Things as They Are
by Solara Myles
Summary: Sasuke wakes up in a world that's just like his, only he's found himself in a role that's better suited for a certain loud mouthed orange clad idiot. It's with some measure of shock that he realises their roles have been switched . . . in more ways than what he likes. As things progress he realises that this world is nothing like his own. AU. Gen. Time travel. Adopted: alolha123
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto.**

This fic was adopted from alolha123.**  
**The first couple chapters are all alolha123's work with only some spelling and grammar tweaks from me as well as a few added bits like clearing up some things that were not previously known in the manga at the time this story was posted. I hope I can do this story justice as it does present a lot of possibilities and looks like it could be a lot of fun to right. So for all those who read this story back then, feel free to check out the changes I made, scenes I added and what not.

**This fic was adopted from alolha123. **

**22/06/13 Edit. Beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Miaow**

**PLEASE NOTE: There will be no pairings in this fic.**

**Things as they are**

Sasuke wakes up in a world that's just like his, only he's found himself in a role that's better suited for a certain loud-mouthed orange-clad idiot. It's with some measure of shock that he realises their roles have been switched . . . in more ways than what he likes. As things progress he realises that this world, whatever it is, is nothing like his own. AU. Time travel.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

He couldn't wake up.

His first thought was that he was dead, because he'd never had trouble waking up before and now he did. So therefore he was dead . . . or Kabuto had tried some half-assed experiment again.

His second thought was that he was asleep at Orochimaru's hideout, because that was obviously where he was supposed to be. Kabuto wouldn't dare try an experiment anywhere else either. In fact he was hardly ever allowed to experiment on the 'perfect vessel' so Sasuke had to wonder what this experiment was supposed to achieve for Orochimaru to have agreed to it.

And his third thought was the rational _no_, he couldn't be dead or asleep at Orochimaru's hideout because plainly, there was _light_ shining infuriatingly at his eyes and neither death nor the hideout had _sunlight_. Well not anywhere he was going if he died, that was for sure.

He sat up abruptly, scowled at the light streaming in from the window, and promptly fell back onto the hard futon, covering his eyes with his arm and wishing the sun would _go away_ with all his will. He was still, strangely enough, quite content to sleep the morning away.

And then froze.

Slowly, the wheels in his mind started turning like steady clockwork. Something was off here. Now, he asked himself silently, why wasn't he at Orochimaru's hideout? Racking his brain, he tried to recall the last thing he'd done. He'd fallen asleep, right? Yes, that was it. But he'd fallen asleep at Orochimaru's hideout. And, when he awoke, that dreary hideout was replaced by a bright, sunny apartment.

The irony of it all could not have been greater.

He wondered if this was all just a dream, and after a few seconds of silent contemplation, he surmised that if it indeed was, he would soon wake from it. It was not a genjutsu because he'd been trained to recognise the influence of one almost immediately, since Itachi was proficient at it.

Rolling over and finding that his sense of touch was unnervingly _real, _the black-haired teen surveyed the apartment with dull, disinterested eyes. It was sparsely-furnished but irritatingly messy. Wrinkled, second hand clothes littered the floor with a few other items that were not meant for the floor either.

Wondering silently in disgust whether the resident of this apartment—if there was one—knew the meaning of 'laundry' and even 'organisation', he pushed himself up with a grunt and dazedly stared at the opposite wall. For a dream, this was disturbingly realistic. Was it possible this wasn't actually a dream and he'd instead been abducted? The thought crossed his mind with a twinge of fear, but he shook his head.

Nah. Not possible. He must just be dreaming. For one thing, no one was stupid enough to steal from Orochimaru and kidnapping his prized 'pet' was as good as stealing. Secondly, no one was good enough to do it without waking Sasuke up and getting out of there alive. So a dream it was.

He leaned his chin on the palm of one hand and let his elbow sink into his knee. How did one wake from a dream? He wondered. Were you supposed to pinch yourself? It seemed so rudimentary that for a split second he dismissed it, but then the logical part of him reasoned that if a dream was basically a weaker, self-inflicted genjutsu, then pain would work.

So he pinched himself, and frowned as the surroundings remained the same.

Huh. Maybe he needed to pinch harder.

Bunching a small part of skin on his left thumb with his right thumb and index finger, he pinched himself harder this time, and still nothing happened.

This is strange, he thought while sucking on the bleeding thumb. (It was something he'd never done before and yet it seemed so strangely natural—not that he'd ever tell anyone that; besides, this was a dream so he could do whatever he wanted.)

Clumsily rising (hah! Since when did the great Uchiha Sasuke do anything but gracefully and fluidly?), he decided to change and explore this dream for the present. After all, he had nothing else to do. If pinching hard did not work, he would just stay in this dream for the present. Maiming himself was not something he wanted to do, because in this dream feelings were strangely intense, and a cut painful enough to release him would definitely hurt more than he cared to willingly experience. Besides, he was a patient sort of person. (He ignored that it was a statement that no one would be able to back.) He could wait until he woke up naturally. A dream was a dream. Why waste the opportunity to do whatever he wanted with no strings attached?

Waking up in the morning and changing his clothes was a habit he'd never lost, even after he had no one to remind him to do so. Being active was in his blood, and remaining in pajamas often resulted in sleepiness, something practically _forbidden _as an Uchiha.

So since this was a dream he might as well get moving and since this was definitely a dream he might as well use what was around him.

While carefully stepping over the various obstacles on the ground—not all of them were clothes; some were unidentifiable objects that lay here and there, and he was extremely careful to avoid them by a large margin—he crossed to the opposite side and opened the dresser drawer.

The teenager's frown twitched imperceptibly as the horribly clashing coloured clothes and the smell of food—_food_, imagine that in a clothes drawer!—assaulted his senses. Digging through the messy piles of clothes (even in a drawer they were not folded!), he picked out a threadbare, mostly-white shirt—there was a small brown stain at the left side, but it was at least cleaner than the other shirts—and some dark blue shorts one size too small.

It would fit, he mused, but not very comfortably. He wondered then if he could imagine things up in dreams (he'd never tried before, and after all, nothing short of the Mangekyou Sharingan would defeat Itachi in his nightmares and he doubted he could imagine that) and proceeded to try, but unsurprisingly nothing happened and he felt foolish for trying. But at least now he knew it wouldn't work rather than wondering if it would.

Crossing yet another sea of strewn clothes, he stepped into the bathroom and was slightly relieved to see that it was at least clean. A faint smell of some cleaner—was that bleach?—drifted through the air, and silently he wondered why this person's bathroom was so clean—except for the mirror, which was hardly a mirror due to some sort of whitish _paste_ on its surface—while the rest of his apartment was messy. Ah well. It didn't matter, for the time being.

As he changed, he wondered whether in dreams, there was actually an owner to this apartment. Or, since he woke up here, was he the owner? _No_, he thought in disgust. _Even my dream self wouldn't be so messy_.

He pulled his shirt over his arms and found that it fit just right, even though it wasn't supposed to. Furrowing his brow in confusion, he then pulled on his shorts, which again fit. That was strange. Was his vision somehow damaged that he couldn't tell what would fit him and what wouldn't? Because he was absolutely sure that the clothes he'd picked out wouldn't fit. At least not comfortably. Slowly concluding that because it was a dream, and dreams were limited only by the imagination, he decided that it was probably possible.

However, a strange feeling came over him all the same. A sort of realisation that all was not as it should be. Steps were harder in that distances that he should've been able to easily reach were not so. The height of things was all wrong too. The mirror was too high, the set of dresser drawers even more so. Little things like that were starting to stick out.

Shaking it off with more quickness than an emotionally-stunted Uchiha _ought _to have done, he hoped this wasn't a nightmare. He'd only had nightmares about his clan's massacre, but every time he had it, it seemed more and more traumatic. True, this wasn't the scene for the massacre, but he wouldn't put it past his imaginative mind to find some way to warp this sunny atmosphere. Those nightmares only ever served as fuel to keep on striving for his goal, to never go backwards, never go back to the Leaf.

Since this was most definitely a dream, since it couldn't be anything else, he could use whatever he wanted no matter what it was. As such he reached for the toothbrush, but abruptly stopped. It was orange.

Suddenly, an influx of images of a blond dobe sprang uninvited into his mind. He reeled back, clutching his head. Why now? He'd never had problems with the colour orange before. It did remind him of the dobe, which was why he shunned the colour, but it didn't actually send him into headaches.

Taking a deep breath to calm his thudding heart, he swallowed and took the toothbrush again, glaring at it as if he was challenging it to send him into a headache again. When it didn't—it was an inanimate object, why on earth would he expect a sneering answer?—he brushed his teeth with calmness that betrayed none of his slowly ascending nervousness. This was so unlike any of the dreams (nightmares, rather) that he was almost _expecting _Itachi to barge in the door any moment. (Granted, that would be strange enough, but Itachi was unfortunately ineluctable in his dreams, a guaranteed presence sent to taunt him every night.)

He rubbed his eyes and flinched as a sharp pain attacked his left eye. More annoyed than hurt, he rubbed the mirror with a nearby towel to inspect his eye. (He hoped that a capillary hadn't broken—how would he use the Sharingan then?) When the mirror had cleared somewhat, he leaned in to stare at himself.

Not at his eye, per se. At his whole _body_.

Had he grown… _shorter_?

His complexion had always been pale—even as a child, his mother worried whether her youngest was constantly ill or not—but now, it was inexplicably toughened, as if he'd trained outside for hours and hours. (He had never trained so hard that his face became hard like this before! Even to defeat his brother because Orochimaru would usually force him to rest for his own good, or rather Orochimaru's.) Most of his baby fat was gone, but some around the cheeks remained—like he was about to enter adolescence instead of being in it. His eyes were wider and more innocent looking. They had not yet been tainted with the sights of war and death. Fewer creases were between his eyebrows than when he'd last checked.

It was like… well, he was _twelve_ again . . . only he wasn't the same as he remembered he should be.

… _Man_ that was a scary thought.

_But, this was just a dream, wasn't it?_ He thought as his breaths rushed out, matching his thudding heart. Anything could happen. And if his sadistic mind wanted him to relive his Genin days… well, this would be the age to do it.

After finishing cleaning up and putting everything back in their respective holders more neatly than he'd found them, he crossed the perilous, obstacle-ridden floor to the adjacent wall, where a messily marked calendar hung off of a pushpin that seemed to defy all laws of gravity, with it hanging so precariously out of the hole in the wall. – he was momentarily taken aback by the fact that anyone who lived in an apartment this messy would actually bother to keep a calendar – snatching it and effectively uprooting the poor pin, he stared at the calendar with disbelief.

It was the day for his Academy Graduation Exams. This couldn't be happening.

He had just gone back three years in time in this dream.

Giving an annoyed huff, he dropped the calendar on the floor since the pushpin was useless and the addition of the calendar really wouldn't make much of a difference to the rest of the mess on the floor and stood there, wondering what he should do. It was a dream, wasn't it? Nothing he did really mattered at all. And if he experienced the past, so what? It couldn't be as bad as Itachi and _that _night. For once, he might actually like what he dreamt. It was different at least. Not the same torturous events that had plagued his sleep for years. It was almost a relief.

Crossing the floor again—having resigned to his fate in cleaning up this horrid mess later since he was stuck here for now—he opened the fridge and was completely horrified to see a few rotting vegetables, some sealed container of _refrigerated mold_—_what on earth was that doing there?!_—and a carton of milk, which he pulled out before pushing it back in with distaste on his face. It had expired two years prior to the present date. He wondered if there was anything edible at all.

Opening the pantry beside the refrigerator, he was slightly less surprised at the contents. It was mostly empty, except for a large—and that was an understatement—pile of neatly-stacked instant ramen packages. It was like being in Naruto's apartment, he thought dryly. Never mind the fact that he'd never actually been in his blond teammate's apartment.

Although he disliked ramen for a number of reasons—one of them being that they strongly reminded him of his Genin days and especially of the _dobe_—there was nothing else to eat, so he took one out, filled it to the line with hot water, and let it sit. The smell of ramen soon permeated the air and, unable to resist his growling stomach, he sat down and began to eat hungrily yet with some manners as his mother had drilled into him until he could do it without thought.

It was better than nothing, he supposed. But he could taste the cheap ingredients put in there. What brand was it? He took a quick glance at the side. Oh, a generic brand. Resuming his eating, he mused that thought. Now, why would this dream have the cheapest of the cheapest foods? He'd at least assume his mind would always want the best, as he was an Uchiha.

This really was Naruto's apartment, he thought, and then snorted. Of course. Only Naruto would have such a messy apartment.

After finishing his ramen with surprising alacrity, he glanced around, at a loss for what to do next in this dream while waiting for himself to wake up. Although he wasn't exactly fond of his graduation day, he supposed he could humour the dream a bit more. If he felt like it later, he would join the others for the test; however, if he didn't feel like it… well, it was only a dream. Failing the test because of absenteeism wouldn't bear much weight on him … yet it would be shameful as an Uchiha. Still, a dream was a dream.

Finding and pulling on some shoes that were at least half-decent, the black-haired boy strode out the door with a distinct calmness around him.

With a casual indifference perfected years ago Sasuke started to walk down the street.

* * *

They were staring at him.

Not really an accurate statement. Stare just seemed so harmless. The looks that shot in his direction didn't seem harmless and promised anything but 'harmless'.

He'd noticed it quite a while ago, but still he wasn't used to it. People had stared at him in the past before, but that was because he was the 'oh-so-famous last Uchiha', and those stares were different, kinder and sympathetic with just a hint of pride. These ones though . . . They were trying to be discreet, but some weren't doing as good as a job as he knew they could be doing. It was as if they were mixed between staring and pulling away.

A mother pulled her child away from him, and he watched them leave his sight with feigned disinterest on his face. Now, that was interesting. Why would they be afraid of him?

He'd watched Naruto receive stares like these once, while they were walking in the village. Of course the dobe had never noticed them—or at least, he hadn't shown that he was aware of them—but he had noticed. It was something that puzzled him enough, but his curiosity was not enough for him to actually search the answers out. Now that he was getting the same stares… well, he wondered. This dream was confusing. Was this supposed to hurt him, like all of those dreams about Itachi and the massacre and etcetera did? If so, it wasn't working. He'd never really cared much for what the people of Konoha thought.

Or, there was something worse about to come up. He braced himself mentally for whatever was going to come—this was like the calm before the storm, after all. Something always happened. It had to. Itachi would come, he always did.

Another family pulled away from him. He laughed silently; it was as if he'd changed places with Naruto! The solitude was actually quite refreshing. No simpering shopkeepers trying to gain his attention. No sympathetic attempted heart to hearts from concerned mothers. NOT A SINGLE FANGIRL IN SIGHT. It just might be better for once.

* * *

He didn't feel like taking the graduating test, so he turned left at the intersection right before the academy. They wouldn't miss him, after all. They had never had. Besides, all of this old Konohagakure was simply a figment of his imagination, and he could do whatever he wanted without fearing the consequences. He was free, finally. He just hoped the calm would last long enough for him to wake up and he'd never have to find out what the storm part was.

Making a few turns around and about to survey the area, he walked up to a vegetable stand that he'd visited regularly during his time in Konoha. The owner was an old lady friend of the Uchihas, so he was often given them free. Although he didn't care for gifts because of his last name, he often just accepted it and left. After all, he'd been taught that it was rude not to.

Mm. The tomatoes here were just as ripe as they had ever been. Licking his lips, he reached out to take one, but suddenly an old, sere hand swatted his away. Startled, he glanced up at the woman, who had an odd expression on her face which he'd never, _ever_ seen her with before.

"You thief!" she accused, her screeching drawl grating against Sasuke's nerves. "You just think you can take whatever you want from _my_ stand? You're a no good, dirty little runt! Tryin' to steal my tomatoes, eh? I'll show you what you get—" she raised a hand to slap him.

Shocked far beyond words, Sasuke just shook his head and raised both of his hands in defence. He hadn't even been allowed to attempt to buy anything! She'd just assumed he wouldn't pay —never mind the fact that he had just been thinking about how he had never had to do so— He glanced around at the other surrounding people, surely they wouldn't let this pass! Yet with a sinking heart he realized that they were not only watching it happen, but watching with contempt! He hadn't _deserved_ this, had he? Surely not!

"You must be mistaken!" he protested, but another bystander pulled him away from her.

"You!" the man said harshly, "Get outta' here!" He threw Sasuke to the ground with surprising force. "And don't come back!" he yelled after him.

Utterly bewildered, Sasuke dashed along the street. He had meant to pay for the tomato, honestly! But somehow, things got mixed up. Why had that woman—that woman, who had always given him a free tomato with a smile when he stopped by—gotten so angry at him?

No. It wasn't anger. It was something far deeper.

He let out a breath that he didn't known he'd been holding. So this was it. This was how his cruel, cruel mind was going to torture him. By making him disliked—rather, _hated_!—by the people who he knew.

He stopped, a sudden thought coming to mind. Well, good thing he didn't actually have that many people who he really _knew_, he thought dryly as he then continued on.

* * *

"Sasuke!" A voice called out as he stopped from his depressed walk. Who could be calling him now? Could it be another of the dream's tortures? But… why did that voice call him so familiarly? Few people called him that. And he didn't really care for it, either.

He turned around, and promptly blinked in confusion. Iruka-sensei? Then, his expression hardened. He'd unknowingly made a U-turn and somehow travelled back to the Academy. What would his former teacher do to him now? "Iruka-sensei," he said evenly, betraying no emotion.

"You were supposed to be in the class thirty minutes ago!" the Chuunin yelled, grabbing the front of Sasuke's shirt.

Startled at this utterly _audacious _act, he glared at his teacher. "So?" he shot back.

"Don't play games with me!" Iruka yelled. "You're going to miss your graduating exams!"

"And what if I don't want to graduate?" was the irked response. He'd had enough of this dream already.

Iruka's mouth fell open slightly as he processed the statement. Brushing his hand off, Sasuke pulled away from his teacher. Surprisingly, Iruka's words came out much softer than he'd expected. Almost disappointed, really—though the disappointment held no weight on his shoulders. As heartless as it was, Sasuke had never really cared for his Academy teacher; but the words themselves shook him into silence.

"You gave up on your dream?" Iruka asked, a light in his eyes dimming.

And Sasuke honestly didn't know _why_ that bothered him, because it _shouldn't_ have and it had never mattered before. Not when he answered Iruka indifferently when he'd been asked about the massacre, not when he'd shoved a fangirl off of the roof he was sitting on, and not when he became more closed and cold. So he didn't answer, settling for an expression which would've looked pretty impressive had his lower lip not unknowingly stuck out, making it seem more like a young child's pout.

"You… don't want to be Hokage?" Iruka frowned.

This time he did respond. "H-Hokage?!" Sasuke spluttered out indignantly, caught off guard. "Why would I want to be that?"

Almost immediately as he said that, he regretted it. Iruka's eyes lit with a light of utter shock, and then suspicion, and then finally disappointment. "Did… something happen?" the Chuunin asked gently.

"No," Sasuke all but spat out. Nothing, except that he'd woken up in a weird place and people he thought he knew were suddenly strangers.

Slightly put off by the viciousness in the younger shinobi's tone, Iruka adopted his usual serious face again. "Well, you should go in anyway. I don't believe that you don't want to become a shinobi—so head on in and you can thank me for it later." And without any room to protest, Iruka shoved Sasuke towards the Academy door, a mere twenty feet but almost an eternity away.

"I don't _want_ to go," Sasuke gritted out forcefully as he tried to resist Iruka's surprisingly strong grip. He was the personal student of Orochimaru, so why couldn't he resist this lowly _Chuunin_?!

Iruka said nothing as he carted the protesting boy to the Academy.

* * *

Sasuke stopped thrashing around as soon as they entered his old classroom. It brought back memories which he'd rather not remember—seeing as they would only pour guilt on his conscience—but some part of him said _yes, this is right. _Everything was back to… well, when it was _normal._

He hated himself for liking it.

Why would he care, anyway? Hadn't his choice been Orochimaru, and hadn't he known that things could never go back to normal, no matter how much he wanted it later? Not that he'd wanted it before he'd had this dream. He just knew he could never have it again. Hadn't he _abandoned _this life for power?

Dazedly, he barely felt Iruka's final push into the room and cheery, "We'll be starting the exams in a few minutes, so stay here!" as he practically stumbled to the desks. He felt a few pairs of eyes on his back, and though his sometimes overly-cautious senses twitched, he ignored them as he surveyed the room. All of the Rookie Nine were here—_of course, where would they be otherwise?_—and with a nervous lurch he saw, among the brown and blond and black hairstyles, a head of cherry pink.

"Sakura," he whispered quietly to himself. She hadn't noticed him yet, and he honestly didn't know if that was good or bad. Their last meeting hadn't exactly been pleasant.

Then, turning, he saw, with another lurch in his stomach, a mop of familiar blond hair. He saw the crystalline blue eyes that he hadn't seen since that meeting at the hideout, where his Team sans Kakashi, sporting two new members had shown up unexpectedly and, he saw—

He was frowning.

_Naruto_ was _frowning_.

That was _impossible_—a contradiction in itself—because Naruto _never_ frowned.

_Ever._

Sure he snarled and sneered at his enemy during battle but this was not the battlefield and there was no enemy in sight. This was the genin graduation exam!

The last time he'd seen the dobe, he'd been too shocked at just seeing Sasuke after so long that he hadn't been able to do much but Sasuke had felt the power that he radiated. Had the dobe been prepared he just might have been able to succeed in his goal to bring Sasuke back to the Leaf.

Now though, he was like a brooding genin, slightly above average.

Come to think of it, Naruto had this expression on—some expression that Sasuke himself had used during his Academy days. An expression along the lines of, 'I could be doing better things, like training.' That just didn't happen either. Things like that were what Sasuke was supposed to do. Not Naruto. Never, never, _never_ Naruto!

So _why on earth _was it happening?

Suddenly, he realized something. It was minor, but nevertheless annoying and since it was his dream world it sort of took preference, and that added to the previous frustration of Naruto's behaviour grated on Sasuke's nerves. Barely suppressing his anger, he walked directly up to the blond and rapped the desk to get his former—_future?_—teammate's attention. "Dobe," he snapped, "you're sitting in my seat." Not that he particularly cared what seat he sat in, it was just a habit that he rather liked sticking to, dream or not.

The room stilled suddenly, and all eyes were on the two.

Naruto slowly raised his head, a simmering light in his eyes that promised grave harm to those they were focused on and _stared_ at Sasuke. "What did you say?" he asked in a clear, concise, infuriatingly _cool_ manner that was also never associated with Naruto.

"I said, you're sitting in my seat." Sasuke repeated a bit more forcefully.

"No, I'm not."

"You're not." Almost a question but not quite there. He didn't want to give the dobe the satisfaction.

"That's right."

"You're wrong."

Naruto cocked his head slightly, the hard gaze never wavering. "No, I'm not."

Sasuke copied the blond, cocking his head as well. "You are."

Silence reigned in the room—not a single person stirred. One could almost see the electric sparks flying between the two's eyes. If it weren't for the irritation he was currently feeling, Sasuke might have even found this situation slightly funny.

"I know I'm not wrong," Naruto said quietly but firmly, "because I've sat in this place for the last four years—" he leaned forward— "Dobe."

Sasuke's eyes grew cold—_How dare he say something like that!_—and he opened his mouth to respond, before suddenly shutting it and settling for simply glaring at Naruto. Irritation was now simply too mild a word to use to describe what he was currently feeling. A dream was a dream and like all dreams something just had to interrupt. Iruka was approaching the classroom, and if he saw them arguing matters would only become more… troublesome, for the lack of a better word. "Fish-cake boy," Sasuke muttered under his breath before walking around the desk and sitting next to Naruto who seemed to be ignoring the muttered statement, probably having sensed Iruka as well.

Discreetly watching the bystanders' shocked expressions, Sasuke could only wonder what on earth he had gotten himself into. He leaned back as Sakura—as he had expected—stomped over to him and demanded loudly for him to move so she could sit next to her Naruto-kun.

Wait, _what_?

Whoa. _Rewind_. What had just _happened_? If he was one to wear his heart on his sleeve then he'd have shown his shock but as it was he wasn't one to wear his heart on his sleeve so he managed to keep the perplexity he was feeling from his features.

_Sakura_? Asking _him _to move so she could sit next to _Naruto?!_

That just didn't happen. A lot of things that shouldn't happen were happening though and Sasuke was liking this less and less. Where was his big brother when he needed the murdering traitor? He'd be _almost glad _to see him, even if he did walk through that door and start killing every person in this room. At least the dream would be over and he could then wake up and get back to his training.

He stared at the ranting Sakura out of the corner of his eye. Still, no expression crossed his features, but inside an overwhelming confusion had taken over his mind. On one hand he was contemplating Naruto's density for ever having had a crush on Sakura. Now that he saw Sakura from the dobe's point of view, he had to conclude that he was if possible, even more of a dobe for ever having a crush on the pink haired kunoichi.

On the other hand . . .

Sakura _was _asking _him_ to move so she could sit next to _Naruto_. This wasn't just his imagination. —Or was it since it was his dream?

Watching her with a bland eye and having had enough of the high pitched screech, he said shortly, "Sakura, if Naruto actually wanted to you sit next to him, he'd _ask_."

Sakura's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish's.

Returning his attention to the empty front of the class, he mulled over his situations. This was a strange dream, he thought, where Naruto was him and he was Naruto and Sakura was obsessed over his teammate. _When am I going to wake up?_ He wondered silently.

"But Naruto-kun didn't ask you, either!" Sakura finally protested.

He again glanced at her. "You took a long time to respond for someone who is supposed to be so smart. Besides, he's not telling me to get lost." he remarked.

As she was about to erupt, Iruka walked in briskly, so she left to some other seat, fuming all the way. But it wasn't like Sasuke really cared, anyway. She'd gotten better over the years or so he'd heard, but he'd left Konoha before she'd really become powerful, and besides—his ties had been cut long ago.

Iruka sternly commanded, "Everyone, back to your seats now!" Though the command was redundant, since everyone was pretty much seated anyways except for the few that had gone to talk to friends on the other side of the classroom.

However, not brave enough to cross their admittedly fearsome sensei, the idling students walked back to whatever seat was theirs. Or open.

Sasuke did not miss the look of surprise that cross the chunin's face when he noted that Sasuke was sitting next to Naruto but he didn't dwell in it and the surprise was quickly covered up with a cheerful smile that made the sensei so likeable.

"Now, it's time for the graduating exam!" Iruka announced. He then proceeded to explain the tests, rules, and whatnot as Sasuke tuned him out having heard it all before. He'd paid attention the first time but he wasn't about to do that again. It had been a tiresome test of his patience that was for sure.

_Why am I here again? _He complained, resisting the urge to smack his head on the table.

* * *

When his name was called for the ninjutsu part of the exam, he walked into the next room with a cool—but bordering on annoyed—gaze. _Oh yes, _he thought, irritated, _I'm here because Iruka-sensei thought I should be in the exam instead of wandering off. _He scowled. _What a complete waste of time._

The genjutsu had been laughably easy, in fact he'd chuckled a bit. The written exam had been ever more hilarious and as such Sasuke had made sarcastic remarks to just about every question, wondering the whole time whether he'd get marks for creativity. He had also placed his own genjutsu on the paper, just to see if the other sensei would see through it. So far it looked like they hadn't.

Iruka and Mizuki sat behind an elongated desk which had many rows of gleaming hitai-ates on it. Motioning to start, Iruka said, "You may begin. Please create at least four _bunshin_."

This was too easy. Was it a joke? It seemed like the whole test had been one so far and he'd expected something a little more, well _more_. He supposed that he kept forgetting he wasn't technically a genin.

Sasuke tensed, but created the seal and spoke, "_Bunshin no jutsu_," and four _bunshin_—two on each side—appeared. They were perfect, as expected from an Uchiha and were near impossible to tell from the original without touching them. He figured that most of the kids at the Academy could at least produce _something_ for the bunshin exam. Hell even Naruto could, even if they never looked right.

But Iruka and Mizuki were obviously surprised.

In fact, they looked like gaping goldfish at the moment.

Large eyes, open mouthed that also seemed to want to open and close but not quite managing it.

"W-Well," Iruka stuttered, having a hard time finding his voice.

One of Sasuke's eyebrows rose. He had done what they had asked for. Was that so… unexpected? Why had they even asked if they thought he wouldn't—or couldn't—have done it? Was this another part of the test?

He cleared his throat, and Mizuki wordlessly held out a hitai-ate to him. Walking forward, he took it, and left the room. An interesting fact to note, but not something that particularly caught his curiosity, was the look of disappointment and loathing in Mizuki's eyes. He shrugged it off as inconsequential. This was only a dream after all. Still it made him wonder what had happened to Naruto the first time he'd failed his exam. After all he'd come back the next day with a headband so something had to have happened and something told him Mizuki had something to do with it.

How his unconscious mind knew that was a mystery to him.

As he and the next person in line passed each other in the hall, he stared at his hitai-ate. It would be useful, he mused. He hadn't had one in such a long time that… it would feel… His thoughts trailing off into silence, he lifted the headband and tied it around his forehead almost out of reflex. It felt restricting, like a chain to this village. When he had the chance, he would take it off and draw a line through that symbol, for the second time.

He'd abandon this village again and he wouldn't look back, not for a moment.

But this was just a dream, wasn't it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews favourites and follows. XD**

**Beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Miaow**

**Things as they are**

**Chapter 2**

He couldn't care any less about Graduation Day at all, because he was stuck in some dream that he couldn't wake up from and a nightmare that was about to begin. So as Iruka-_sensei_ gave his congratulatory speech that he'd heard for the third time (the first one was when Itachi had graduated, but he was three and didn't remember it; the second was when _he _had graduated; and ironically, he was graduating again, today), he conveniently tuned him out and fiddled with his hitai-ate, which felt expectedly uncomfortable. Reaching up and adjusting it for the umpteenth time, he ignored the surprised and slightly aghast looks he was getting.

Tch. Hadn't they seen anyone graduate before? Apparently not. But then hadn't Naruto gotten the same looks when he'd walked into the team assignments?

Sending a toned-down glare their way, he scowled and slumped in his chair, doing his best to ignore the urge to simply pull the headband off and toss it. It would only garner more questions and right now he wasn't in the mood for questions. What genius ordered that Graduation ceremonies should be held _outside_? It was unbearably hot and his neck and forehead were drenched in sweat. If he was training, he wouldn't have minded the sweat, but here he was sitting in a lawn chair listening to his ex-Academy-sensei speak and _that_, in his books, was _hardly_ worth getting sweaty about.

"… Congratulations, Shinobi of the Leaf!" Iruka ended the speech, and the audience (sans one Uchiha Sasuke) erupted in applause.

It might have been inspiring, and it might have been uplifting, but the fact that it was just a dream still remained and Sasuke would not allow himself to be moved by that speech. He could not, because the past events and such were simply of the past and no more important than the people he'd left behind there. Not to mention, he'd heard it twice before.

* * *

He sat on the swing, rocking back and forth in a slow, rhythmic pattern. Staring at the crowd of beaming students and proud parents, he felt himself wishing that his otou-san had come to his graduation; but of course, Uchiha Fugaku could never have come, because by that time he'd already been murdered in cold blood by his other son.

Still, Sasuke did wonder if he'd have come if he hadn't been murdered or would there have been curt excuses that he had to work, that there were more important things going on, or merely a grunt of 'As expected from the Uchiha and the son of the Head of the Clan.' His mother would have come and she'd have been proud, smiling with the other parents. But Sasuke would never know for sure. Itachi had killed them before he could ever find out.

Managing to pull the protective façade of blankness onto his mind, Sasuke wondered idly where Naruto was. That earlier stunt the blond dobe had pulled was probably one of his tricks again—he dismissed the fact that everyone else seemed to have played along with it as mere convincing from Naruto's part—and he wouldn't stand for it. Che. The dobe needed to learn his lesson, after all.

Standing up and bouncing on the balls of his feet to stretch his limbs, he jumped up into the trees and, with one last brief glance at the crowd below, Sasuke dashed away to find the blond Genin.

No one noticed him leave, and if they'd known they honestly wouldn't have cared at all. Except a thoughtful silver haired Academy sensei who was now forced to re-adjust all his carefully made plans.

* * *

The dobe was sitting on the bank of a river that ran a fair distance from the Academy. Thankfully, it hadn't taken long for Sasuke to find him, as he was proficient at tracing chakra signatures. Naruto's was one he knew especially well.

Walking up to the dobe, he tapped him on the shoulder. "Naruto."

Naruto whirled around, half-surprised at it being Sasuke (that expression practically screamed _How on earth did you sneak up on me without me noticing?!_) and half-enraged at anyone bothering him on this day. Annoyance seeped out of his sapphire eyes. "What do you want?" he asked rudely. Sasuke realised with a jolt that Naruto had disappeared from the Academy Graduation Ceremony almost as quickly as he had, if not even more so. What did that say?

"Tch. That stunt back at the class. What did you mean when you said you'd been sitting in that same seat for four years?" Sasuke had never been very good at being subtle. Blunt was more of his personality. (But his social skills, in general, were absolutely failing. The only thing that kept him from being hated was that he was an Uchiha and his looks, but that didn't appear to be the case here.)

"What did I mean?" Naruto asked incredulously. "What I meant, of course. I have been sitting there for four whole years. Or was that sentence too big to get into your stupid head?" he sneered.

"I'm not the one who's considered unintelligent by most of the Shinobi population." Sasuke retorted calmly. Inside, he was seething. How dare the dobe act like this towards him! He was _so _glad Orochimaru had taught him to be even more indifferent towards others' actions than he already was, because Naruto was _really _getting on his nerves! Not to mention this was a rather childish fight because now that Sasuke had had some time to think, he realised that he, Uchiha Sasuke, was indeed the one any Shinobi would deem unintelligent upon meeting.

Obviously, Naruto felt the same about him, the whole '_How dare he?_' part. "_What_ did you say?" he growled out.

"I said," the Uchiha said coolly, "that I'm not the one who's considered unintelligent by most of the Shinobi population, _dobe_."

"You—!" The blonde snarled as he jumped up and hot-headedly began attacking him. Well at least that was the same.

Sasuke, who had expected this, easily dodged all thrusts and kicks from his future teammate. "Is that all you've got?" he asked mockingly. "I know a few civilians who can do better than this!" They were Uchiha civilians, and hadn't been civilians for long, having retired early from a ninja career, but that didn't matter, did it? They were still civilans.

Infuriated, Naruto began attacking more intelligently—instead of blindly punching and kicking, he now planned his attacks. More and more attacks were aimed at his joints and head, while less and less attacks of Sasuke's were hitting. This was not Naruto, his usual style anyway. This spoke of clan training, or ninja parents.

However, Sasuke was not Orochimaru's pupil for nothing; as Naruto's attacks gained more strategy, his defence did as well. His style was the Dance of the Snake, but unfortunately he couldn't use it here. Regardless of that, though, he was still very advanced and pushed Naruto back. He wasn't an Uchiha for nothing and had spent a fair amount of time with Orochimaru, improving on the already near flawless taijutsu.

As he was about to claim victory by knocking Naruto unconscious, he froze. Naruto was standing there, his arms stiff, but in his hands was a huge swirling ball of blue chakra.

Rasengan.

Only this time, the dobe was missing the Shadow Clone that usually helped him with the attack.

That attack—_no don't think of that, the Valley of the End was three years ago! How could it still give me nightmares? Don't think about it! This can't be happening, we're only twelve years old! How did he learn this? He's going to kill me!_—

Only one word formed on his lips: "How…?"

All seemed as if it was in slow motion. Naruto rushing at him, the water running like time in the small river, the branches dancing their final, haunting waltz in the wind—_I'm going to die I'm going to die no I haven't killed Itachi yet why can't I move is this it—_

Suddenly, it stopped.

Naruto's half-formed Rasengan—how could he have not noticed that it was only a half a Rasengan and not a fully formed one, like back then?—suddenly fizzled out in Naruto's hands, which were a mere meter away.

Gasping for breath, Naruto collapsed onto the ground and cursed. Then, he muttered to himself, "Why… Why can't I do it?"

Were the Shadow Clones that important to the formation of the Rasengan? At least for Naruto anyways. He didn't appear to know the Shadow Clone technique this time around and Sasuke wasn't sure where he had learnt it the first time, but he'd seen it done enough times to know how it was done. Still … this Naruto would not listen to him. No matter if it was for help, especially if it was for help.

So Sasuke said nothing. He knew far too well the dismay of failure and the lessons that could be learned from it. This Naruto—this angry, dark, arrogant Naruto so unlike the blond dobe he knew—could do well to learn the lesson of pride and unfinished techniques. Even _he _didn't use techniques unless he had full control over them. He wasn't so arrogant … or perhaps desperate.

But Naruto… that attack… He'd really, truly wanted to kill—or at least massively injure—him, hadn't he? And if so, why?

Tch. It was nothing new, Sasuke tried to convince himself; but a feeling that he hadn't felt since he'd woken up from his injuries in the Valley of the End would not leave. "Dobe," he whispered. "You just want to kill me that much?" feeling an odd flutter in his chest as he parroted a bastardised version of Naruto's words to him.

"I—" Naruto's voice broke off. Conflicting emotions flitted across his face: anger, confusion, regret, shame and sadness. Perhaps he could help the other out?

"That really isn't an attack you should do until you've completely mastered it," Sasuke commented, reverting back to his normal self. "If it doesn't work correctly, you could end up damaging—"

"I _know_!" Naruto suddenly interrupted angrily. "I _know_, okay? Don't try to lord over me, dead last! I _know!"_

Annoyed at this outburst and dismissing all ideas of helping him, Sasuke retorted, "Well, obviously you don't know, because a minute ago _you tried to use it!"_

"_Don't try to understand_!" Naruto shouted back. "Don't _try_ to understand! _None_ of you—not _you_, not _otou-san_, not _anyone_, can understand _at all_! So don't _try_!" Storming off, Naruto left the Uchiha behind at the river.

Shocked _almost _beyond words, Sasuke wondered out loud, "What was _that _all about?" Otou-san? Naruto didn't have parents … did he?

The birds, which had started chirping sometime after they'd stopped fighting, sang their consolation; but what he really needed were answers to the questions he had, and he'd come out with more questions than answers.

* * *

Sasuke entered the classroom again the next day with uninterested eyes. After that confrontation, he'd returned to the apartment (he refused to acknowledge it as "his"), where he spent the rest of the day cleaning up –half disgusted and half fascinated with some of the things that he'd found– and musing over the many questions that he had. Now, his expression matching that of a block of wood, he blended almost perfectly with the crowd of students filing in.

He'd hoped that last night, when he went to sleep, he'd wake up in Orochimaru's hideout again—not that he really liked the place, but it was better than having to deal with his old life—but to his dismay, nothing had happened, prompting him to believe that this wasn't a naturally induced sleep and therefor was an unnatural dream. Today, he would get sorted into Kakashi's team again, wait three hours, listen to the others introduce themselves, and then return to the apartment and finish cleaning it up. If he had his choice, he would work on a way to quickly return back to the living world; but as a new Genin, his free days were limited.

He spotted Naruto sitting in his seat again, and noticed the subtle glances the blonde was giving him. He couldn't decipher their meaning. He did notice that Sakura and Ino were glaring at each other and yesterday's grumbling with Sakura came to mind. Was the dobe hoping he'd sit next to him again to avoid a fangirl? Or was it yesterday's little fight that was getting to him? Whatever it was, Sasuke knew the horrors and the annoyance of fangirls and as much as he disliked the dobe, fangirls were something he only wished upon Orochimaru. So, on a whim, he strode over to the desk and—ignoring the aghast and horrified looks the rest of the class gave him—pulled the chair out next to Naruto and sat down.

Almost immediately after he set down his bag, Sakura and Ino stormed over to him. Those two were amazingly united when faced with a common enemy. "What are you _doing_?!" Sakura screeched.

"What does it _look_ like I'm doing?" Sasuke shot back, rolling a lazy eye at them. (It was hardly in character for him, but teasing these fangirls was absolutely an irresistible idea to him, because contrary to popular belief, Uchiha Sasuke actually did have a sense of humour! Just not one that most actually understood.)

"Get out!" Ino ordered. "I'm sitting next to Naruto-kun!"

"Tch. As if."

"Out!" Sakura shouted, raising her fist. "Or—!" The fist plummeted towards his head.

In a flash, Sasuke's arm was out and his hand firmly grasped her fist, effectively stopping the attack. He didn't even _blink_. Stunned into silence, both girls and the rest of the class stared at him. He was not Naruto and as such he would not allow the pink haired annoyance to hit him just for her own satisfaction. He couldn't care less about her own desires.

He debated mentally whether to leak some _sakki _out and decided that, for ruining his morning, these annoying girls deserved it. As the _sakki _washed over the crowd, Naruto's eyes—which had been staring at him ever since he'd sat down—grew progressively wider.

"You were saying something?" Sasuke asked.

With small 'eep's the two girls rushed back and the _sakki _dissipated. Rolling his eyes at them, Sasuke sat back, closed his eyes, and relaxed. No one else would bother him, another bonus to that little move.

A tap on his shoulder from his right. _Except that dobe,_ he thought, miffed.

"What?" he asked, not bothering to open his eyes. He'd also been up late cleaning out that monstrosity he was supposed to call home.

"How did you do that?" Naruto asked. His voice was calm and serious—nothing like the tone he'd shouted in the previous day.

"What?" the Uchiha asked mockingly. "You want to learn?"

"No," Naruto hissed back, "but I want to know how _you_, of all people, did that."

Sasuke opened his eyes. "Naruto, you're so _nice,_" he said sarcastically. Then, his tone reverted back to normal. "How _else_ do you release _sakki_? I thought that by now even you would have realised that I'm not the dobe you think I am."

A familiar, scarred-face, brown-haired chunin walked into the room as Sasuke finished saying this. _Great timing_, the Genin thought as he watched Naruto's face flash enraged, then annoyed and finally passive blankness.

Iruka cleared his voice. "Alright, settle down, class." Surprisingly, the class _did _settle down this once, because all of them were eager to find out which teams they were on and who their teammates would be. "The assignment for the teams will now be announced."

Tipping his head to the side and staring at him with a dilated but unsurprisingly blasé gaze, the Uchiha waited for him to start.

Iruka, however, found some difficulty in doing so, seeing as almost all of the class girls were glaring at Sasuke, while the rest of the class was staring as well… and it didn't help that Sasuke was staring at _him _with the strangest expression he'd had all year long. Iruka found himself wondering if Sasuke was trying to emulate Naruto in the hopes that people would treat him like that treated the blond. It had his heart ache to think that Sasuke had given up his dream to be Hokage just because Naruto didn't want to be Hokage. Perhaps later he'd talk to the genin.

Still emulating a person was one thing, displaying skills he had not previously had was another matter entirely.

Taking a breath, he said, "Team 1 will consist of…"

Sasuke conveniently tuned him out as Iruka rolled down the names. _At least my team isn't Team 15 or something_, he thought dryly, _because then I would have a long time to wait…_

"Team 2… Team 3… Team 4… Team 5… Team 6…"

_Finally._

"Team 7 will consist of Namikaze Naruto, Haruno Sakura—" Namikaze? Odd.

"_Yeah_!" Sakura shouted in glee while the other girls in the class moaned.

"—and Inuzuka Kiba."

Sasuke jerked up in his seat as if he was struck by lightning. "Wha…" He couldn't believe it. With a dropping lurch in his stomach, he realized that—_How on earth could have been so utterly _stupid_?!_—of course, the Graduating Exams counted towards his grade. So when he'd passed that last test, he'd… _changed the teams!_

He couldn't speak. Words simply stuck in his throat. How on _earth?! _So what had happened to Naruto in his world? How had the dobe passed? Back then he'd never thought to find out because it had been unimportant.

"Team 8 will consist of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke."

_I… I'm in Yuuhi Kurenai's group? _Sasuke realized, horrified. _This… This can't be! _Taking deep breaths and ignoring the puzzled glance from Naruto, he tried to reassure himself. _This is just a dream. When I wake up, it'll all be fine. I'll forget about this strange dream and go back to being Orochimaru's pupil. It'll be fine…_

Despite being an Uchiha he really didn't want to focus on genjutsu and with Hyuga Hinata no less. It would be the most un-talkative group in rotation. Shino never spoke unless he had to, the same with Sasuke and Hinata was so shy that she just didn't speak at all. Genjutsu v.s. Kakashi.

On one hand he'd never had Yuuhi as a sensei before and it did open up some possibilities for him, but on the other hand he wanted Team 7. He didn't know why but he wanted it and he was going to fight for it. Dream or not.

Though something—something nagging at the back of his mind—told him that this reality was far more than a dream.

* * *

He had to change the teams.

It was only half an hour after the introductions and Sasuke was already feeling, say, utterly _doomed._ It wasn't that his teammates and his sensei, Kurenai-_sensei_ (he couldn't at all even think that title without sarcasm, because the last sensei he'd had had been a blundering pervert and horrible teacher), were bad, but simply put, it wasn't Team 7.

Genjutsu v.s. insanely powerful yet lazy pervert. That month Sasuke had spent training with Kakashi had taught him a lot about the supposedly lazy jonin. Still …

Kakashi was not his sensei now. Sakura and Naruto were not on his team, no matter how annoying he found them. Instead, he'd gotten some type of reconnaissance team, and he was not a reconnaissance type of person. He was more of an assassin-type of shinobi. Genjutsu and tracking meant that he had to hang back, stay low. That was not his style. Naruto had taught him way too much about hitting first and asking questions later, a most effective way of going about things.

Oh yes, he was _doomed_.

Doomed to watch Team 7 go on without him and with Kiba; doomed to see them be the team that Kakashi had always wanted; doomed to see them move higher than him as a front line assault team. He was not Naruto. He was not what Kakashi would want and he knew that Kakashi had valued Naruto for his loud brashness even if he'd never said it. It was just in the way he'd sometimes stare at the blond … like he was seeing someone else.

He tried not to care; he really did. Because he'd left that team—he'd made the choice to leave them behind for power. But still, something about those times always made him feel better, whether it was Kakashi's chronic tardiness, Naruto's rivalry, or Sakura's irascible attitude. They were his family. Naruto had made that clear to him at the Valley of the End and at the time it hadn't been enough. Now that he was denied them, suddenly what he'd thought was going to be a chore was the only thing he truly wanted.

Team 8 was not Team 7. He would not be able to find that same sense of belonging here. Team 7 had been a ragtag bunch of misfits that had come to find comfort in each other's presence. Their differences were too glaring to ignore or wait out till this dream ended. Kurenai-_sensei _was strict, far stricter than Kakashi ever was, and Shino was far too quiet. True, he himself was fairly quiet by nature, but compared to Shino he talked far more. Hinata was far too shy. She would blush and stammer whenever she was asked a question, and that irritated him. What was the use of being nervous if you were a ninja? Would enemy shinobi _ever _take pity on you if you were fighting them? He supposed it was a good quality for a nurse or doctor, but that was it. Sakura's loud exclamations of devotions were so much more determined and spoke far more highly of a possible kunoichi in the making, if she could focus on the right things.

He'd left the small meeting without saying a word. When asked for an introduction he'd grunted, earning himself surprised glances from all of his teammates, most especially his sensei. He'd left before he'd been dismissed with only the statement that an Inuzuka would be far more beneficial to the team than he would.

Now, he was standing in the middle of the intersection between the main road and one of the smaller roads. The apartment was to his left, away from the centre of Konohagakure, but the Hokage's office was to the right. And if he seriously wanted to change the teams, he would have to ask the Hokage himself. Would he really be so daring?

A dream was a dream so perhaps the murderous rage of the Hokage would somehow wake him from this reality.

Tch. Being teammates with Naruto must have lowered his IQ somehow, he thought as he turned right. He was now willing trying to go back to the dobe … after running from him for so long.

* * *

"Is the Hokage free for a meeting right now?" Sasuke asked casually as he walked up to the secretary. The woman took one glance at him and nodded, tipping her head to motion for him to go in; then, she returned to her paperwork.

Wary at being allowed entrance so easily, he walked slowly to the door. This could be a trick, so he had to be more careful. Quickly memorizing the escape routes as he glanced around, he stepped in front of the door and almost knocked.

He jumped back as two Chuunin guards _shunshined_ into place. They also glanced at him with some sort of recognition, though the light in their eyes was more afraid and suspicious than calm, like the secretary's. "Uh, do you have business with Hokage-sama?" One asked. Odd. He'd never been regarded as such in the Hokage's office. Then again this place was just brim full of firsts for Sasuke.

"Yes," Sasuke replied warily. He still wasn't so sure of these two.

"I'm sorry," the other said. "We don't allow visitors at this time. Please come back another time."

"But the secretary said I could go in."

"Did she?" The first one asked disbelievingly, glancing at the other. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, knowing that he could take these two on but also realising that it probably wouldn't get him to see the Hokage in the way that he wanted.

Well, technically she hadn't _said _so, but it had definitely been there in the actions. It was almost as though she had wanted to get rid of him. "Yes," Sasuke said. "Besides," he leaned closer, "I'm an _Uchiha_." This had always worked before, and it was the less troublesome path to go down.

When in doubt, pull out the family name, even if he didn't really like to.

The two glanced at each other, unsure, but then one said, "I'll go in and see if he's free."

* * *

"Sir, one of the Uchiha wishes to see you."

"What? Which Uchiha?"

"He didn't give his name, Hokage-sama."

"Did he not give his name, or did you not ask him?"

"..."

"..."

"Gomen nasai, Hokage-sama."

"That's better. Now what does he want to talk to me about?"

"We don't know."

"You didn't ask him about that, either?"

"Gomen nasai, Hokage-sama."

"I can't be interrupted right now. Tell him to come back later."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"… Wait, describe the Uchiha."

"Aa... He has black hair and black eyes, a white shirt—"

"Does he have a hitai-ate?"

"Hai." The chunin wasn't sure how much difference that made, considering this was a ninja village.

"A new one?"

"Hai."

"... Send him in."

"Hokage-sama?"

"I _said_, send him in."

"...Hai."

* * *

"Hokage-sama will see you now," the Chuunin said with a hint of confusion in his tone.

Sasuke smirked. "Thanks," he said casually as he walked in. He didn't feel that the chunin deserved the thanks but he gave it anyway.

The Hokage's office was well-lit and airy; in fact, it was so bright outside that he couldn't see the man's face against the sun. Instead, there was a black silhouette against the blue sky. Whenever he'd been in the Hokage's office, not that that had been many times, it had never been like this.

However, bright or not, he could tell enough that this Hokage was not the Sandaime. And once again he was floundering in hot water. He had to tread carefully.

The Hokage's hat was on the desk, looking almost as though it had been tossed there, and wild, spiky hair stuck up in all directions before falling gently at the sides. This man was also taller, and younger. Another difference was that piles upon piles of paperwork lay on the desk and on the floor. Although the Sandaime had never liked paperwork (what Hokage actually _did?_), he'd still gotten it done. Though now, it seemed that this man did none of it. Or he just simply didn't touch it till it obscured too much of the floor.

He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light, and promptly gaped.

Sapphire eyes sparkled at him. "Hey, Sasuke-kun. How are you?" Such familiarity? What? How? When? Even though he had never met the man, had never seen his face anywhere but on the Hokage monument, he knew exactly who it was but that still didn't help him.

_The… Yondaime Hokage?!_

Sasuke choked. "What," he managed to gasp out in his confusion, "Are _you _doing here?"

The blond man—apparently the Yondaime (that realization he accepted quickly enough, because if this was a dream where Naruto was dark and he was hated, the dead Hokage could definitely show up as well but apparently he needed to work on his reaction of surprise. He needed to squash it because this wasn't helping his 'get back onto Team 7' mission)—frowned at him. "Sasuke-kun, that's rude."

The boy had the fleeting sense that someone had turned off the lights when that man had frowned. Just like Naruto, when the dobe frowned. Their smiles lit up the room, and their frowns darkened it. But nothing showed on his face as he muttered, "Not like it matters." He was supposed to not care about the dobe, to break his bond. Naruto was not supposed to mean anything more than someone who held him back from what he wanted.

"What was that?" The man's frown deepened and Sasuke felt sure he was in an eclipse. A part of him was cowering under that frown, utterly mortified at having caused such a reaction at all.

_Stop frowning,_ he wanted to shout. _Stop frowning. You're disrupting my thinking, because you look far too much like a certain someone I know, who apparently isn't himself anymore. Stop frowning so that the world will be ohkay again. Just stop frowning! _Instead he said, "Nothing. Hokage-sama, I request to be switched from my team." To be safe, he bowed. He could take no risks with this unknown person, who was apparently a Hokage.

"Eh?" The startled Yondaime exclaimed. Oh right, Naruto was never polite to the Hokage. Why would his dream-self be any different. But then what did his dream-self call the Hokage? Naruto had called the Sandaime 'Jiji'. The Yondaime wasn't exactly an old man.

Sasuke risked taking a glance up at the blonde's face and read it easily, another trait he seemed to share with Naruto. It seemed that the request was not the only thing that surprised him. "What?" He asked, momentarily forgetting the manners his parents had drilled into him when he was young.

Suddenly, the man began to chuckle, and then laugh straight-out. Sasuke resisted twitching his eyebrow. "It has to be something really, really serious for you to call me 'Hokage-sama'!"

Sasuke did twitch his eyebrow. Why would calling a Hokage 'Hokage-sama' be unusual? Then again for Naruto it would be. For Naruto it would be the equivalent of a child looking lovingly at a parent and saying 'I love you' when what they were really saying was 'I'm buttering you up because I want something from you that you wouldn't normally give me'.

"Don't you usually call me 'Minato-oyaji'?" Ah so now he knew what he was supposed to call the man. Still he couldn't bring himself to actually do so. It just went against everything he stood for … even if there was a part of him that found a childish sort of amusement at being able to call the Fourth Hokage that.

"Why…" Sasuke asked with a tinge of indignation, pushing away his previous thoughts "Would I call you that?"

The Yondaime—or 'Minato-oyaji' apparently—stopped laughing, settling for scrutinizing the Uchiha carefully. "Are you okay?" he asked gently after a moment. "Did something happen? Cause you know you can tell me anything right?"

Sasuke stared at the Yondaime, confused. "Why would I be feeling sick?" he asked incredulously. Why did everyone think something had happened? Even Iruka's first reaction had been to ask if something had happened.

"We-ell," drawled _Minato-oyaji_, "You address me as _Hokage_, you ace the test—don't _try_ to deny it, I already talked with your sensei—and you are so _serious_." He rolled his eyes. "Who _wouldn't _think you're sick? You're never serious. Don't think I've forgotten about the orange paint explosion you rigged in my office. Orange is a nice colour and all but that was just _too_ much orange. Now that I'm thinking about it, you're not even wearing the colour anymore."

"And what sickness would make someone skilled?" Sasuke shot back, still miffed at the idea of being sick. He _never _got sick. He was also choosing to ignore everything else the Hokage had said. It was something Naruto would do, not him … but apparently in this world he was Naruto so it was sort of a moot point.

The Yondaime sighed. "Were you perhaps … hiding it?" he asked as a glint of suspicion sparked to life in his eyes. Suddenly the laughing Hokage was gone, the concerned leader vanishing as though he'd never been there at all, replaced with a clearly experienced Shinobi, one that had earned the 'flee on sight' order in every bingo book from here to Kumo. To Sasuke's knowledge no one since then and no one before the Yondaime had ever managed to achieve that.

Slightly apprehensive, Sasuke replied carefully. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Oh, I don't know," the Hokage replied in a sing-song voice that didn't match his earlier expression. "Maybe you're a … spy, perhaps?"

Blinking once, Sasuke felt the hairs on the back of his neck jump up. This man was deadly. _Of course he is, _his common sense—which seemed to have disappeared a moment ago—shouted. _He's the Yondaime. What would you expect?_ And replying mentally, he shot back, _I don't know. It's not like I ever really knew the Sandaime, or the Godaime. And at that time, they seemed pretty harmless to me. Well they weren't giving me _that_ look._

He didn't say anything. He simply blinked back at the blond. When all else failed, say nothing.

Unexpectedly, irritation seeped into the Hokage's previously careless demeanour. "You know I was just kidding with you," he said, frowning. Not the frown again. Stop frowning! Those blue eyes, they were too similar, too much like Naruto. Sasuke wanted to run in two different directions and that was confusing to say the least. One, as far away as possible and two, straight towards the Yondaime and right into his arms, as though they were old friends. It wasn't natural! Yet the urge was there.

Sasuke didn't reply yet again. Biting his lip and reminding himself once again what the purpose of this visit _was, _he took a breath (surprising himself, because he rarely needed to take a breath to calm himself; and yet, this man made him want to) and said, "I want to be changed from my team." Firmly, yet emotionlessly; without the use of titles so that earlier confusion wouldn't be repeated. The Yondaime's mood was constantly changing but Sasuke supposed he wasn't exactly helping matters.

"What?" the Yondaime asked, surprised. "Is Kurenai really that bad?" The hint of a smile danced on his lips but there was also a strange hidden anger in his eyes that confused Sasuke.

_He's probably thinking that I'm kidding. _Sasuke shook his head. "Kurenai-sensei and my teammates are fine, but I feel that I would be better able to function on a different team, such as Team 7. Team 8 is clearly a reconnaissance team, but I have no skills regarding that." It was a lie, but he fervently hoped it would not show. He needed to get to Team 7. "Team 7 is more of an all-round team. I feel that Kiba, with Akamaru and his Inuzuka skills, would better suit Team 8."

The man showed no expression during this whole explanation, and with bated breath Sasuke hoped that it would work. However the anger was gone from his eyes and instead replaced with an odd sort of relief. For a Hokage, he sure was easy to read … just like Naruto.

"But… why?" the Yondaime asked, slightly confused.

Staring at the Hokage, Sasuke asked himself if this was really a Kage. Hadn't he just explained everything? He blinked as he tried to process this question. It wasn't like he was asking Sasuke to repeat everything. It was more like he was trying to understand something.

"You have never been one for logic and persuasion, Sasuke," the man continued. "but more for feelings. Why do you feel that you need to be on Team 7?"

"Because I—" Sasuke stopped abruptly. He couldn't go over that whole speech again. It would be suspicious and he couldn't say why he really wanted to be on Team 7, that that was where he was before so it was the only place he'd accept now.

Well, when in these situations, lying always worked for him, and what he was about to do made him want to die of mortification. And since logic wasn't working on the strange Hokage, it was time to get illogical …

"Because—Because Sakura-chan's on that team and I really, really, _really_ want to be on her team! So I thought if I sounded all smart and everything like Naruto-teme then maybe you'd say yes!" he burst out. _I hope that worked. I am _not _doing that again! _He grit his teeth, jaw clamping together painfully. _I sounded like a total _idiot_!_

_No, correction. I sounded like Naruto._

The Yondaime stared at Sasuke for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Fricken bipolar maniac! "Oh! I see now." Now gently smiling at him, he said, "Well, I guess I could pull a few strings… I'll let you know soon, 'kay?"

Sasuke nodded, not daring himself to speak after that _humiliating _event. And as quickly as he could, he turned around and left the room, leaving a befuddled Yondaime.

_He didn't even say goodbye_. The Yondaime mentally sniffed.

_Finally,_ he thought, scowling as he all but stomped down the steps of the Hokage's office. _I'm glad that's over! I'll never confess my 'love' for Sakura ever again!_

His temper cooled off as he stepped onto the main street, though. At least he'd gotten what he'd come for—a switch in teams. Absentmindedly he wondered whether changing the teams on a whim like that was even possible—before remembering that that man, although he didn't look like it, was a Hokage.

He walked down the street towards his apartment at leisurely pace. His fingers itched as they begged to take off his uncomfortable hitai-ate, but he resisted. This was Konoha, after all. Not Oto. He couldn't take it off—not yet. Besides he was going to continue cleaning that horrid apartment. He'd need the damn hitai-ate to keep his hair out of his face.

The boy's mind idly wandered as his legs moved mechanically. It was as if he couldn't direct them, but that was fine, seeing how he didn't really have any place to go anyway. He'd spent the whole of yesterday cleaning the apartment—surely more cleaning could wait. Things were starting to move in places they shouldn't, like the washing pile, which just so happened to be everywhere.

Besides, he had things to think about and walking was always nice.

This was a dream, right? Simply a dream, albeit an unnaturally realistic one. Things that had happened in the past and things that hadn't… had happened. It wasn't true. This was a dream.

Just a dream…

Idly, he thought it would be nice if this were reality, and he could redo all of his Genin days with foreknowledge.

And then scolded himself for thinking it.

He'd made that choice long ago, and traitors didn't deserve second chances. He knew that. Had told himself that every time his mind wandered over to a certain blond dobe. Traitors couldn't undo what they did. They didn't get second chances.

Did they?

* * *

Namikaze Minato was stunned. Absolutely and completely stunned. No, _stunned _barely began to cover the emotions he was feeling.

What on _earth _had happened to Sasuke-kun? Had someone hurt him and they had all somehow missed it? He'd though Iruka's concerns had been slightly over exaggerated but this, this showed that they'd been highly understated.

He sat back, utterly baffled as to whether he should get his ANBU to fetch the boy back and then question him for espionage. It was a horrifying thought, really. Was that boy actually replaced by a _spy_?

It was the only thing that made any sense. But would a spy be so _blatant _about his skill difference? No, unless the spy was horrible at spying … and in that case, why bother sending the spy? Sasuke-kun managed to completely stun Iruka, Mizuki, and his classmates by not only passing, but also effortlessly. Furthermore, he renounced his dreams and goals, and completely switched mindsets of energetic and happy to sullen and arrogant. Surely this could not be Sasuke-kun. Something had to have happened and should that something have been on the negative side, people were going to wish it hadn't happened at all. Minato would make sure of that.

He'd gotten a report about a tomato stand incident but he'd dismissed it because he knew that Sasuke liked the things and at the time he'd been easily thrown to the ground by a civilian. Still … that might have only been shock on Sasuke part. For that matter why would Sasuke be shocked at all?

Once again, he found himself thinking that this could not be the same boy.

And yet, it was. The boy, although it was if he'd changed literally overnight, still held the same aura as Sasuke-kun had. Minato couldn't have been deceived—he was a Hokage for goodness' sakes!

But that twinge of doubt kept nagging at him, and he frowned as another two questions entered his mind.

_Why would Sasuke-kun ask to be switched from Team 8 to Team 7? Furthermore, how would he know Team 7 even passed? If he knew about Kakashi-kun, which he would know as a spy, he'd think that they _didn't _pass and therefore it would be pointless to be switched from Yuuhi's team to Kakashi-kun's. The man was notorious for having ridiculously high standards as well as a long list of failed students. If a spy wanted to get into the ranks of Konoha Shinobi, Kakashi-kun was definitely not the way to go about it._

Signalling to one of the ANBU surreptitiously placed outside the window, Minato ordered, "Falcon, go after Uchiha Sasuke and bring him back here. He just left the building—he shouldn't have gone too far." He didn't want to do this but it was necessary.

As the ANBU bowed and left the room with his teammates, Minato sighed, sat back, and took a good long look at the office. He really needed some new décor; paperwork just didn't seem to be the right theme.

* * *

Before Sasuke had even reached the intersection where he was supposed to turn, he knew ANBU were following. Three of them, to be precise, swiftly gaining on him. Their speed was nothing hard for him to match or even outrun, but the tricky part was finding a time to suddenly disappear.

Walking faster, Sasuke surveyed his options. On one hand he could disappear, but on the other that was suspicious, something he did not want to appear to be right now.

The main street was always densely packed with people, and almost always two or three pairs of eyes followed him—out of curiosity, he supposed, for their stares were anything but threatening—but still, they were watching him. They would undoubtedly alert the nearest Konoha Shinobi about his suspicious acts, if they acted according to the hatred he sensed from them. The thought of dancing in front of them with his hair dyed pink and his outfit bright green, flashed through his mind and he shuddered violently, banning the thought to the dark corners of his mind.

He wondered mildly what he had done to deserve their hatred. Not that he _cared_—because Uchiha Sasuke did not _care _about others—if anything, he couldn't care less!

It just disrupted his plans. That's all.

The edge of his mouth twitched as he decided that his oblique reasoning was certainly hypocritical.

Casually turning into an alleyway and walking to the end, Sasuke stopped, his gaze even and unsurprised by the three ANBU which appeared in front of him. Unconsciously his eyes rolled to the side, catching sight of the one ANBU at the entrance of the alleyway. Cocky, weren't they? They thought that he wouldn't be able to run.

Naïve, _naïve_ fools. He could have outrun them any time he wanted from the moment of their chase.

"What is it?" he demanded. "Why have you been tailing me?"

The ANBU paused for a split second, undoubtedly from the startling realization that he'd _known _about them for quite some time. "Uchiha Sasuke," he said—suddenly it was all formalness. "Hokage-sama wishes your presence."

"Didn't I just leave there?" Sasuke's response was short and caustic. He didn't particularly want to go back and see the bi-polar maniac Hokage that was too darn much like Naruto but as the same time wasn't. "Don't bother me."

"But Hokage-sama—"

"I don't care what the Hokage says." Sasuke cut in, and he was sure the ANBU—along with his teammates—stared at him incredulously from behind their mask. "I'm tired." Well, that wasn't completely true. He was tired, but from this infuriating dream, not from the day's events.

The ANBU paused for a lengthy time, and then uncharacteristically for a Shinobi and an ANBU at that, shook his head. "Look, Sasuke-kun," he said in a surprisingly young voice compared to his stiff and formal tone earlier, "We're not going to hurt you, okay? Yondaime-sama just wants to talk to you. It's not like you haven't done this before."

Briefly Sasuke considered retorting that no, he hadn't done it before today, but his instincts screamed for him not to do it, and he generally trusted his instincts. Besides it would be foolish and pointless, something that would only garner more questions and a date with the T&I department. He'd never been one for dates.

So instead, he settled for the stubborn look, crossing his arms. "You might not, but _he_ might." It was true—he was not so arrogant as to claim that he could defeat the legendary Yondaime Hokage, provided he was the same person. The thought of the Yondaime laying a harming hand on him made him want to puke but it was one of those alarmingly uncharacteristic thoughts of his, ones that he'd strangely been having all day.

"Come on, Sasuke!" The ANBU laughed. (His easy manner was so unnerving that Sasuke desperately wanted to flee. His ninja instincts were _screaming _at him, because ANBU—and if he suspected, the Hokage's personal ANBU—did not _easily laugh_.) "Stop being so guarded! You know very well that Hokage-sama _dotes _on you. He'd never hurt you for the world!" Then he amended quietly, "Though he might joke around quite a bit…"

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "What will you do if I don't go?"

The ANBU rubbed his chin thoughtfully which looked strange considering he was wearing a mask. "Aa… Gag you, tie you up, and cart you off to the office, where we will most uncharitably dump you on the floor." He finished matter-of-factly.

The boy blinked once. He didn't doubt the ANBU's words for a moment. He'd seen it happen to Naruto often enough. Still, he wasn't Naruto and he actually knew how to escape from ropes.

"So come on!" The ANBU held out a hand grandly.

And Sasuke found himself accepting the hand—but _only_ because this man reminded him of someone he knew in the far past. A part of him so desperately wanted to go back to the days which had been so carefree in the clan—

_Can't go there,_ he reminded himself. Aloud, he spoke quietly, "You remind me of my cousin."

Amidst the wind, however, the words were quickly blown away. "Huh? Did you say something?"

"No," Sasuke shook his head. Some things were better left behind doors.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter was beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Miaow. XD**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows. **

**For those who read the story the first time around, this chapter holds a lot more changes than the previous two, mostly added scenes. **

* * *

**Things as they are**

**Chapter 3**

"What?" Sasuke snapped rudely as soon as he dropped down from the ANBU's back, whom had declared quite grandly that since Sasuke's excuse was exhaustion he would be humiliatingly carried into the Hokage's office, and that his little delay meant that they were behind schedule, making the ANBU look bad.

His rude question wasn't the way to behave to a Hokage, but he decided that it was okay for him to because he'd unceremoniously been kidnapped (sort of) and dragged back to the office where the Yondaime—who apparently thought he needed to go the _hospital_—was waiting to talk to him. Oh and that was usually the way Naruto talked to the Sandaime so it was bound to be alright. Aaaaaand he might have been slightly nervous, but only a little.

He also had more chances to blow his cover and end up with the wrong sort of ANBU.

Taking slight note of the _now_ uncharacteristically rude question, something he had expected when the boy had first walked in, the Yondaime motioned for the ANBU to leave and quietly watched them disappear. Using the slight moment to gather his thoughts, not that there was much of it, the Yondaime leaned back ever so slightly. Then, he sat forward and stared directly into Sasuke's eyes. It was intimidating beyond belief and Sasuke actually had to suppress the shiver it bought to life within him.

The boy had never been so unnerved by a gaze before, but mustering all of his courage he repeated, "What?" in faltering confidence. He had never felt like this under Orochimaru's gaze. Was this why the blond made the better Hokage?

"I want an explanation," the Yondaime began, his tone soft yet serious, not at all the cheerful laughter from before. _Please stop frowning!?_

Sasuke cut in a bit too quickly—"An explanation? About what?" Che. This man was actually making him _anxious_ and making him flounder! He'd faced down Orochimaru for crying out loud! He spoke coolly to that snake all the time. Why couldn't he do so with the blond?

"It's about your behaviour today and yesterday." The man continued after another hard, long look at him. "You've been acting strangely."

"Didn't we already discuss this a few minutes ago?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," the Yondaime said, "but I never got the answers I wanted and you left before I could really ask." A deeper frown and Sasuke felt as though his entire world was crashing down around him.

"I did answer you," Sasuke pointed out defensively. Sasuke was mentally mortified at the possibility of suddenly acting out childishly, but it was there bubbling under the surface and he couldn't stop it.

"You did not."

"Yes, I did."

"Not the answers I _wanted_. All you gave me were excuses Sasuke. They weren't real answers," replied the other, and the argument was over. Sighing, the Yondaime ran a hand through his long blond hair. "You're more serious, you haven't played a prank since the day before yesterday –makes the paperwork less but it's still worrying in that of itself–, you want to be on Team 7 which you're not even sure will pass Kakashi-kun's test, you treat me with respect—"

"Why wouldn't I treat the Hokage with respect? Any Shinobi should. And besides Hatake-san is the best jonin in the village, anyone knows that." Sasuke countered.

"Let me finish," the Yondaime said sternly, and then continued. "You were surprised at seeing me, although you saw me just the day before the exam, which—by the way—you passed with uncharacteristic ease, even the bunshin no jutsu." He sat back. "I can go on, if you'd like. For example cleaning out your apartment, but I think that list sums everything up. You can imagine why I don't think you are who you are supposed to be."

"Aa," Sasuke muttered as he averted his eyes. He _wasn't_ who the he was supposed to be but he couldn't very well tell them that now could he? They'd never believe him. So what was he supposed to say?

"No eye contact," the Yondaime noted aloud. "You want to hide something." Did saying it out loud make it better for the blond or for Sasuke?

Startled, Sasuke snapped his—hopefully apathetic—gaze back to the man, but said nothing. He forced his gaze to remain on the Yondaime, willing his eyebrow not to twitch.

"Which of those do you want to explain first?" the Yondaime sat back in his chair and laced his fingers together, blue eyes holding a pain that Sasuke could never hope to understand as well as a sort of breathless anticipation. He was worried about what Sasuke might say.

Though he knew it wasn't the time to do so, Sasuke smiled humourlessly. "And I suppose I won't be able to get out of it?" he asked with the knowledge that it was a rhetorical question. He had a feeling that, like a certain other blonde he knew too well, this man would not stop until he got answers. He was just far quieter at it.

"Right," the Yondaime said.

"What would you do if I told you that I'm not the twelve year old genin you see in front of you? That I'm not the Sasuke you know. In fact I'm a sixteen year old student of Orochimaru's and I became said student after nearly killing Naruto and ditching Konoha all in an attempt to gain enough power to kill my brother for killing my clan and betraying Konoha and the Uchiha name?" Sasuke stated all in a rush, somehow being compelled to tell the truth when being pinned with those blue eyes and faced with that disapproving frown. Immediately he wanted to smack his forehead but stood ramrod straight instead.

"Ha. Ha." The Yondaime deadpanned, eyes narrowing. "Very funny Sasuke." There wasn't any amusement in his tone. "I suppose we can knock off not playing any pranks from that list. Seriously though, I want an honest explanation this time."

Sasuke drew his lips tight. He would have to create a fabricated yet believable lie. They would never believe that truth unless a Yamanaka was let inside his head and he really didn't want that. "Okay," he said. "You got me. I'll spill everything." _As if._

"So you aren't Uchiha Sasuke?"

"No, I am," Sasuke quickly affirmed. If he said he was a spy… he shuddered to think of the consequences. "It's just… I've been…" his face screwed up. "Hiding stuff," he said lamely, scratching the back of his head sheepishly—on purpose. If he acted like the stupid boy the Hokage apparently thought he was everything would become easier. More would be able to slip under the radar. Since apparently, telling the truth wasn't working, not that he really thought it would.

"Hiding stuff?" the Hokage echoed incredulously. "Sasuke, or whoever you are, I'm sure you'll understand my suspicions remain until some proof appears. I think you have more to say than that. Hiding _stuff _barely begins to cover what you apparently have hidden."

The Hokage was suspicious of him. Perfect, the boy thought sarcastically. Retaining the sheepish face, he continued. "I mean, uh, you know… You know how the villagers treat me, right?" he asked, hoping that the rude behaviour from them had not just been anything short-lived. Naruto's certainly wasn't. His hopes were affirmed when the Yondaime nodded. "It's just that… I've known how to do a lot of things for a while now, but it's not like I can show it, because… wouldn't that make them more suspicious?"

"True," the man agreed, "but how did you learn all of that?"

_Uh. _It was harder to make up a lie than what he originally thought. But he was a ninja. He could do this."There was a visiting merchant a while ago, remember, ne?" _This is not going to work! I don't even _know_ whether a visiting merchant visited Konoha in the days that I've been here!_

"I think I remember…" the Yondaime trailed off, suspicious eyes unrelenting and unbelieving.

Sasuke jumped at the opportunity. And besides, taking his training with Orochimaru into account he wasn't technically lying. "Yeah, well he uh, kinda' wasn't really a merchant, you know? And uh—"

The other held up a hand. "I get the point," he said, "but how he did this without anyone knowing and how much you know are questions unanswered."

The boy paused for a split second, and then said, "The merchant was pretty advanced. He made this sorta' bunshin but it wasn't really, 'cause it was all solid an—"

"It was _solid_?" the Yondaime interjected sternly.

He nodded once. "It was really cool… uh, and it replaced me —which is half the reason I sucked in the Academy so much since it wasn't really me but the clone me— while we went to train someplace where the ANBU weren't…"

No reaction.

Sasuke continued. "I don't know that much," he rushed out, "because he only taught me random jutsu and skills…" he trailed off.

"So you're saying, in essence," the Yondaime frowned, "that you were training under this 'visiting merchant' for a while, during which you learned what, B-, A-ranking skills and possibly jutsu? And your speed increased from almost nothing to the level of an ANBU's? Furthermore, your attitude changed _completely_?" A wry and knowing smile spread halfway on his face. "That just doesn't sound logical, does it?" Sasuke didn't think he'd displayed that many skills over the past two days, had he? Perhaps it was such an unconscious action on his part that he didn't even know he was doing it. He was going to have to be careful from now on.

"No, I suppose it doesn't," Sasuke agreed. "Fine. IwantedtobelikeNaruto." Sasuke had decided that the merchant story would only get him so far and it really only explained half of the 'changes' "As for my trainer. I had training under a visiting merchant for say, a couple of months? During which I became up-to-par with my peers at the Academy. I also increased my speed drastically—" he wanted to say, _And it's not my fault if the ANBU are slow. They're slacking behind if you ask me and they were underestimating me,_ but didn't— "or actually, that was practically the only thing we worked on, since my sensei was particularly concerned about speed. Said something about running away from the enemies I wasn't strong enough to defeat. He also said something about being too thick headed to realise when it was smarter to actually run away but I guess he had a point so I took it upon myself to hit the books. I did learn some jutsu, but nothing above C-ranked."

"And why would he teach you?" the Yondaime asked, still sceptical and ignoring the question for now. "And for that matter what was it that you said earlier?"

"I don't know," Sasuke replied with a careless shrug. "Because I'm interesting? He said he liked me? Why does any ninja teach another? And I said I wanted to be like Naruto. (*_Cringe_*) He's always so moody and serious and stuff but everyone and I mean everyone still likes him so I thought that maybe if I acted like him then they wouldn't look at me with _those eyes_ anymore." He'd heard Naruto refer to the looks he was getting as 'those eyes' once. He'd muttered it under his breath and at the time Sasuke had pretended not to hear him.

"Aa … But I'm sure you'll understand if I still can't completely trust you and I'll have to check your story." There was a new kind of pain in the Yondaime's eyes, regret or maybe guilt.

Sasuke nodded once. "Have all the surveillance you want. Just allow me to continue doing things the way I have been doing, since it's only been two days I don't know if it's working yet."

The Yondaime frowned. "You know I can't do that," he said. _What was wrong with acting like Naruto, well this dream-Naruto anyway? And frowning already!_

"I know," Sasuke replied off-handedly, "but you're the Hokage, aren't you? Can't you make an exception?"

"Why would I want to make an exception?" Ouch.

"Do you want to arouse the suspicion of the villagers, my fellow Shinobi and my team —whichever one that might end up being with a full on and unnecessary investigation?" Sasuke shot back.

There was a slight pause. "I suppose I could," the Yondaime murmured. "All right, Uchiha Sasuke. You are allowed to continue being a Shinobi. I will furthermore transfer you to Hatake Kakashi's team." _Better to watch you … _was the unspoken term.

Sasuke tilted his head to the side as he processed everything that had been said. He nodded his head in acceptance once before asking, "Permission to leave?"

"Yes, you may leave now." It almost physically hurt to have those eyes pinned to him, those eyes that were filled with so many things, like concern, worry, guilt … suspicion.

The door clicked shut as Sasuke let himself out of the room, and Minato immediately motioned to the ANBU outside his window. "Bird!" he snapped. "Follow Uchiha Sasuke with your squad! At _any _sign of betrayal or suspicion, capture the target and take him to the interrogation chamber with Ibiki. _Go!_" He paused once, and then added quickly, "And tell Hatake Kakashi the changes in the genin teams and to watch him carefully, will you? Also, please inform Yuuhi of the genin change as well."

The ANBU nodded and disappeared with a puff of smoke and Minato let out a sharp breath as he leaned back. That conversation—or interview, more like—had scared the _wits _out of him. It took a lot to scare him, but the possibility of the Kyuubi inside Sasuke being taken and somehow taken advantage of and a spy replacing him did. Sasuke's story was believable, but not completely. There were a few suspicious holes which Minato would have to check into. He didn't want to have to do it, but it was necessary. For the safety of both his village and the Uchiha boy.

He didn't believe that a merchant had trained Sasuke. Not for a moment. There was more to this than what the boy was willing to admit to. But that part about Naruto, that was almost breaking his heart. If the boy believed that it was Naruto's attitude that attracted the people to him, then he was going to be in for a lot more pain and suffering but he seemed to be set on that course of action.

He sighed wearily. Well he hoped it ran its course soon. All he could really do was wait and be there to catch the pieces as he'd always done for the boy before.

Strangely enough, the only time Minato had felt that Sasuke was speaking the truth was when he'd spun that ludicrous tale of being a 16 year old student of Orochimaru's. There was just no way it could be true. There were too many time and space impossibilities involved and he was berating himself for even considering the possibility of the story being true.

But that conversation—Minato had truly felt like he was talking to a fully-fledged adult, not a twelve-year-old fledgling. Every question was met with a semi believable answer and in the ninja world that was as good as any answer got. After all, some things were meant to be impossible but they did it every day. So possible or impossible were merely points of perception when it came to being Shinobi. Sasuke's new turn of behaviour completely baffled the Yondaime—what could that 'merchant' have _done _to him to make him that way, if his story was true?

He wished he knew what truly happened to the Sasuke he knew. He missed the carefree laugh.

* * *

It didn't take long for Sasuke to notice that ANBU were following him again. He supposed it was logical, but that didn't seem to ease his annoyance. Back in Sound, no one would have _dared _to follow—or should he say stalk?—him, the favourite pet of Orochimaru and the most powerful one (Kabuto came pretty close) but here, it seemed that pesky ANBU did all the time.

Still, he had said to the Yondaime that he could put surveillance on him.

Resisting his sudden urge to kill or cause bodily harm to those Shinobi (In his current state he wasn't even entirely sure if he could because he definitely wasn't as strong as he'd been before coming here or ending up in this dream world reality place so that meant he was going to have to train), Sasuke walked down the main road. People were staring at him again, but he couldn't have cared less about them, as those _ANBU_ were more of his main concern—Che. He shouldn't have to think about those things. They were undoubtedly there to watch his behaviour for suspicious _anythings_, and by thinking about them, he would then betray the fact that he knew they were there, and that in itself would be suspicious, earning him a one-way ticket to Ibiki's interrogation office.

Besides, what the hell was he supposed to do when he needed to use the bathroom?

It was hardly too presumptuous to say that he could easily deceive these ANBU and flee, at his current strength. He could try but that was a slightly too risky move for the moment. Besides, he didn't feel like it.

_Not feeling_ like doing anything Shinobi-related had never been in his mind before, but he inexplicably _did _at this moment. Well not really Shinobi related per say but more like anything at all actually.

Nevermind that now. This was- it was a dream, wasn't it? All of this?

Sasuke didn't know the answer to that anymore. On one hand, it would be preposterous to think that all of this could be happening, but on the other hand, why did everything feel so _real_, and would his dull, unimaginative mind actually be able to create such a fantasy? Of course not. Any fantasy he allowed his mind to entertain would inevitably involve the death of his brother. So no, this wasn't his imagination.

Moreover, the Uchiha clan wasn't exactly credited on their imaginations, just their battle prowess. Did genjutsu take imagination?

Nor on their dreaming. Sasuke scoffed; _Uchihas_ did not dream of worlds that weren't theirs.

Their attention was not, and could not, be wasted on such irrelevant things such as dreams. They were imbedded into reality like no other clan ever would be due to their accursed eyes. The Uchiha saw the fact of a matter before anyone else ever did. So no, dreams were not—

Sasuke stopped abruptly. He'd just passed a street.

The street that led into the Uchiha clan district.

_Wasn't that street supposed to be empty?_

He felt his heart thud loudly, and heard the quick breath that escaped his lips. But he didn't move. Red flushed his mind; and his first thought was, _Who are the idiots that dare invade the Uchiha clan district?_

But as he stared down the wide, bustling street that he'd walked down so many times as a kid, he realized with alarm and disbelief that they were _Uchihas_ who were in that street.

Uchihas. _Plural_. Now that chunin he'd been faced with before seeing the Yondaime made a lot more sense, but this still didn't make any sense at all.

Slack-jawed and wide-eyed, Sasuke stared at the many people talking, selling, walking, whatever. There were—how could he have forgotten their names? Oh, Akito-san, tending her geraniums as she'd done many years ago. His cousin, Tetsuo—and Daichi, her brother—and even that brat Miyuki, who thought she was better than anyone else, were welcome sights.

It just mattered that they were alive. That's all that mattered.

_But if they are alive… then otou-san and okaa-san… are also—_

A lump in his throat formed, but he ignored it, bursting into full speed down the street as the hope swelled inside him. His old house—_down this road, to the right, across the road—this road now, this way—I almost didn't recognize it now that there are people on it—_

He never noticed the stares in his direction and the hostile air, but even if he had, he wouldn't have cared. His thoughts remained focused on one thing.

_Right here!_

His house was in front of him, looking every bit as majestic as it had been before _that_ happened. He noticed lights in the windows, and realized that even such a minor thing such as that comforted himself. It'd been a long since he'd seen lit lights in there from the outside. So many nights had been spent just sitting right here, in the street, staring into dark broken windows, not even daring to enter the house.

Now Sasuke could hardly run fast enough down the path, to the door—

The image of a dark-haired man sprung to his mind, and his hand froze a few inches from the doorknob. If everyone was alive, that meant… _he_… was also here. In this very house before him.

He was at a crossroad. Should he go in and greet his mother and father and risk seeing Itachi, or not go in and—

And what?

Avoid his own family?

Perhaps Itachi was once again on one of his many missions. Forgetting or completely ignoring the fact that this was supposed to be nothing but a dream Sasuke grasped the doorknob firmly and turned it. The door creaked its familiar welcome, and he stepped inside, eagerly drinking in its old smell, sounds, sights—oh, the sudden relief of comfort!

But there, in the corners of his mind, something dark and sinister bubbled, threatening to overwhelm him. Images of Shinobi in the shadows standing over crumpled, once proud forms. Blood pooling on the floor and moving ever so slowly towards him. His breath quickened from something other than anticipation, as he found himself drowning in sensations and thought he no longer wished to see but could not stop.

"Itachi?"

It was his mother, washing over him like a soothing balm and helping to move the darkness away from his mind. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy the peace that was settling over him.

"Itachi, is that you? You're home early—"

She stepped out into the foyer and paled at the sight of Sasuke, dropping the dish she was drying. It let out a shriek of shattering as it crashed on the floor, sending shattered pieces everywhere. She wasn't smiling. She wasn't laughing. She was staring at him with horror.

Sasuke froze. What should he do? She looked so pale that—"Okaa-san, are you okay?" he asked.

She didn't answer for a moment. Her eyes were wide and disbelief shone in them clearly. "What… What are you doing here, Sasuke?" she asked in a shaky, uneven breath.

"What?" Had he just heard that? "I'm—I'm—" he couldn't find an answer. He felt the air leave his lungs as though he'd been punched. What would he say? _You've been dead for how many years, and all I want is to see you, so why are you asking what I'm doing here?!_

"You shouldn't—You shouldn't be here," Mikoto cut him off. "Your otou-san or Itachi will be back soon and—"

"I don't care!" Sasuke interrupted. "I don't care." He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't stop himself. He had to know she was real, to know that she was really there and not just some sick torment of his twisted imagination. She wasn't. She was warm and soft and she smelled just as he remembered. She was _home_. "I missed you, okaa-san," he whispered.

She did not respond, and stiffened as if—as if he hurt her?

He released her and asked confusedly, "What is it? What's wrong? Have I—"

"Get out, Sasuke. Please," she pleaded. "Before your otou-san comes back."

"Why? I'm not scared—"

"What are you doing, you monster?"

Sasuke whirled around to face his father, even stonier-faced than he'd remembered. "I'm saying hello to my okaa-san. Is that wrong?" he asked defiantly.

"You do not belong here anymore. Get out."

"I am Uchiha. I belong in the Uchiha compound."

Fugaku's features froze. "You are a monster before you are Uchiha," he hissed with narrowed eyes, eyes that had never been directed at Sasuke before in his life, "and I don't want you to ever call yourself Uchiha again! You don't _deserve_ it."

"If a newborn is called Uchiha simply because they were born into the clan, how can I, the son of the head himself, not _deserve_ clanship?" Sasuke shot back. He was really cursing his ignorance of this reality now.

"Because you are Ky—"

"Fugaku!" Mikoto cried.

The man paused. "Because you are no longer my son," he amended but it was too late. Sasuke had at least some idea as to what he'd been about to say. Still, what he'd ended up saying was something far worse to the Uchiha. All the stares meant nothing until they were in the eyes of those he loved so dearly.

The blow was sickening. "What…?" Sasuke whispered. He had been scolded harshly before, but for his father to go as far as disowning him? What on earth had he even done to deserve that?

"You forgot already? Typical of the runt, once again showing just what a disappointment you are even without taking what you are into account." Fugaku sneered. "You were no longer Uchiha the day you left the clan!"

"I—" _I didn't leave the clan. I didn't. Why would I do that? Why are they acting this way? Why?_ Sasuke gulped and backed up, trying to process what was happening. He finally had his family but he wasn't allowed to see them?!

This was worse than watching their deaths. This was the ultimate torture. He'd worked so hard to avenge them and they — hated him.

His back hit the wall but it didn't register in his mind. He couldn't believe this was happening. His okaa-san wouldn't look at him and if she allowed herself a glance, as though morbidly obliged to, all Sasuke saw was fear. She was afraid of _him_, her own son.

Broken memories stuttered within his mind, pieces of something that made no sense. An overwhelming urge to throw up made him fall to his knees, gasping for air in the hopes to keep his breakfast down. Rage, so much blind rage. What was this? Shouts of panic but too broken and distorted to even understand. Where was this coming from? What was happening?

Sasuke clutched at his hair as he tried to banish the images from his mind. But they wouldn't leave. They kept on going, over and over with the same broken confusion, the same blinding rage,_ the urge to kill_.

Betrayal. A sickly thing that clung to the memories like a bad taste in his mouth. What was this!?

Arms wrapped around him, forcing his head between his knees. He was hyperventilating.

"Breathe Sasuke." A familiar voice whispered into his ear almost frantically.

Sasuke thought the advice was ludicrous. He was breathing!

"Slowly Sasuke. Everything is alright. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you."

Anger leaked from the images in his mind over to him. He lashed out at the voice but found himself pinned to the floor, arms held down at his sides.

"No!" Sasuke yelled as new images began to blend in with the rage and bloodlust. Itachi, the Uchiha. His broken and defeated parents. The blood. So much blood.

"Make it stop." Sasuke sobbed brokenly, both appalled at his behaviour and desperate for relief.

"Sasuke, calm down, stop struggling." Sasuke froze immediately. He hadn't even realised that he had been struggling at all. "No Sasuke." He was immediately scolded, "Not like that. You need to relax your muscles. Come on they teach this at the Academy."

The voice, it was helping. It was helping to focus the young Uchiha, to bring him out of the downward spiral of chilling images. So instead he focused on the voice, focused on what was being asked of him. This was something he could do.

"Please don't stop talking." Sasuke whispered, taking deep gulps of air, trying to slow down, trying to relax and fighting the urge to break free and fight his way out. Out of what he wasn't entirely sure though.

"Huh? Oh is it helping? Well okay then. You know Sasuke I don't know what's going on with you but I sure hope it's not permanent. Hokage-sama doesn't like it."

"Now I remember. You're Shisui. The first one that Itachi …" Sasuke didn't finish. He'd chosen to ignore the words that Shisui spoke earlier. It was just nice to know that it was Shisui. He'd always liked his older cousin.

"How did you–? Never mind. Just don't go telling everybody. ANBU identities are supposed to be secrets. What did you mean about Itachi? The first one what?" Shisui was beginning to sound exasperated.

Sasuke closed his eyes, eyes that had previously been staring at his parent's feet, watching as his father tried to usher his mother away, out the room … away from him.

_The first one that Itachi had killed._

"Sasuke, you're not helping your case. You shouldn't even be here." Shisui clucked his tongue impatiently, the noise sounding weird coming from behind his ANBU mask.

"Why, why am I not an Uchiha?" Sasuke asked, still keeping his eyes closed. His breathing was finally beginning to calm down, his racing heart starting to even out. The images in his mind were almost gone now, the rage he had felt fading with them. All that was left was weariness, weariness and betrayal but a betrayal he couldn't connect to anything.

"You left Sasuke. I know your memory is not that bad." Shisui tone was softer now, pitying and Sasuke's annoyance spiked.

"I'm fine now, you can let go." Sasuke's voice had reverted back to the cold toneless-ness from before coming home. He had a lot to think about, a lot to sort out but being pinned to the floor with the blood circulation being disrupted to his limbs was not helping him, and for that matter neither was the interrogation.

He was an Uchiha. He was Uchiha Sasuke and he should not have lost control like that. It was time to retreat, to look at the situation and then continue from there. One thing was clear. He was not welcome here and something had happened. He'd have to find out what though. But for now he needed to be the cool calm Uchiha. He needed to be the Avenger, even if for now, he had nothing to avenge.

Gloved hands released him reluctantly and Sasuke got to his feet. An image of his brother suddenly came to mind, of the proud and powerful Itachi falling to his knees before his accusers and asking for forgiveness for his behaviour, a forgiveness he had never meant. The only time Itachi had ever told the truth was when he had lashed out, lost control in a manner that was most unlike Itachi. But Sasuke understood, only now that time had passed. Still, the action had placated the Uchiha, made them believe what they wanted as they only saw what they wanted to see. Itachi's words that day were starting to make a little more sense.

So Sasuke did the same. He allowed his body to fall to the ground, his knees impacting with the wooden floors harshly. He pressed his knuckles against the floors he knew so well from childhood and bowed his head to his father, mirroring Itachi's exact posture from so many years before, before he stated in much the same tone that Itachi had. "Forgive me, _Uchiha-san_. I have not been myself lately. I'll see to it that this incident does not happen again."

Then he got back to his feet and walked to the door, not even glancing back at his parents. "What happened to him? He's nothing like before he left." Mikoto asked a startled Shisui.

"We don't know." Was all Shisui replied with but Sasuke didn't care. He'd heard his mother's tone and it was not the concern of a parent. It was the fear of a stranger.

They may look like his family, but they were not _his_ family. _His_ family had died that night Itachi had killed them. So Sasuke did the one thing he had been fighting with himself not to do the second Shisui had released him.

He ran.

* * *

Back in the apartment, Sasuke stared at himself in the mirror. Monster. Demon. Why were people calling him this? What had he done to deserve this? Why had he chosen to leave the Uchiha clan? So many questions and no legal ways to get the answers without becoming suspicious. How would the Hokage react to that morning's incident at the Uchiha compound? He'd be told, that was certain. Still, what had he done to make his mother fear him so much?

Here, he was apparently still in the Academy, a dobe at that,—and he couldn't remember anything in the Academy that he did strangely, but in this wacky world and twisted reality, anything could happen.

Monster.

Demon.

His brow furrowed. Wasn't that what people called Naruto? And he certainly wasn't Naruto. But he had been thrust into the role of Naruto ever since he arrived here.

But those two words… Naruto had something which caused people to call him that—the nine-tailed demon fox, Kyuubi. And Sasuke _certainly _did not—

_Did not what?_ His mind cackled. _Did not what? Did not have Kyuubi? You fool!_

Sasuke felt an ominous shiver skitter up his back. He lifted his shirt. Nothing there.

"See?" He told himself. "There's nothing there. Nothing—"

_And you call yourself smart? Look harder, dimwit!_ He was really starting to wonder if that voice truly was his own mind, or perhaps something else.

"Fine. If you're so insistent." He activated the Sharingan, and again, nothing was there. "See? I don't have the Kyuubi."

_Heh. One last way which you've been avoiding._

"I haven't been—"

But he had.

He channelled chakra to the center of his stomach, and for a split second, he felt triumph as nothing happened—but suddenly a great black intricate spiral seal shimmered into view.

Sasuke sharply inhaled. No, no way, _no_—

What the—?

_He had the Kyuubi!_

* * *

"Hokage-sama." Shisui greeted with a bow.

"Yes, Shisui?" Minato asked with a slight frown. The Uchiha before him was not wearing his ANBU mask, meaning he was here in his free time, something he didn't get a lot of so this had to be important.

"It's about Sasuke-kun, Hokage-sama. He went to the Uchiha Compound today. It was like he couldn't remember a thing about that incident. I'd even go so far as to say it was almost like he was surprised to see the Uchiha there at all." Shisui's reports were always direct and to the point. Having been the Hokage's personal ANBU guard for some time now, the Uchiha understood just how little time Minato really had.

Minato frowned, Sasuke's earlier words flashing through his mind. But that was a ludicrous idea, impossible. He squeezed his eyes shut before sighing. "Just keep watching Shisui, just keep watching him."

* * *

_Cold._

He felt cold.

_Numb._

He felt that, too.

The sun had already sunk beneath the edges of the earth and Sasuke was still idly skipping rocks over a pond.

Like he had been doing for the last few hours.

He supposed he should have known; after all, he had known for quite some time about Naruto's tenant- and since he and the blonde had switched places, it was only logical that _he _would have the Kyuubi too.

But his thoughts still lay in disbelief.

He skipped another rock across the pond.

_I..._

_The Kyuubi..._

Another rock.

_Is everything switched in this world?_

_Will I be as loud and hyperactive as Naruto was?_

_Will I love ramen as much as Naruto did?_

_Will I start to act just like Naruto?_

_Will I start to remember things from this world, like at the Uchiha compound?_

_Will I love the colour orange?_

Sasuke shuddered. Himself in orange?

Scary, scary thought.

Another rock.

But his thoughts turned to his friend:

_Will Naruto leave?_

_Will Naruto join Orochimaru?_

_Will he..._

His hand froze before skipping another rock.

_...kill me?_

Sasuke's eyes glazed in memories.

And absentmindedly, he wondered how much longer he could hold everything in, how much longer he could keep it altogether. He didn't think he'd be able to keep his calm façade up if this continued for much longer.

* * *

-the next day-

Hatake Kakashi was not happy.

He wondered why he kept testing Genin teams, year after year. He had tested so many all of these years, and each of them decided that it was better to save themselves instead of working together. So why did he keep on testing?

Perhaps it was the Obito part of him.

Or perhaps it was the other Jonins- as well as the Yondaime- insisting his participation every year.

And he couldn't always say no.

"Kakashi-kun, aren't you going to meet your team?"

He turned his head towards the voice, identifying the speaker as his smiling sensei.

Kakashi shook his head in annoyance. "I still can't believe you managed to persuade me to do this..."

* * *

Only three people still remained in the classroom and, needless to say, they were bored.

"Why isn't our sensei here yet?!" Sakura whined, kicking at the ground.

"It's only been five minutes. Stop whining." Naruto said, obviously annoyed. They had been called back to the Academy and had been told about a last minute team switch on the request of the Hokage. Naruto saw who his teammate was being replaced with and scowled. The Yondaime's favourite. Typical.

He still didn't understand why his father paid so much attention to the dobe.

"Anything for you, Naruto-kun!" Sakura chirped sweetly, her mood changing dramatically.

Sasuke resisted the urge to raise his eyebrow in confusion. She hadn't been this expressive and submissive for that matter in the past timeline; had he changed her already? Then again, he'd more likely than not, ignored her rather than told her to shut up.

But he shrugged it off; he didn't care as much about Sakura's new behaviour as much as he did Naruto's.

Speaking of the dobe...

Sasuke turned his head slightly to stare at the boy, who was, again, sitting with his fingers laced beneath his chin. Mentally, the Uchiha sighed. _I have to get closer to him. As far as he's concerned, I'm just a burden._

"Hey, Sasuke?"

He jerked his head towards the voice, surprised, though his indifferent expression still held on his face.

It was Sakura, her face mixed in confusion and irritation. "Why are you on Team 7, anyway? I thought Kiba was in in our team instead of you."

Sasuke shrugged. "I convinced Hokage-sama to switch the teams."

"Oh? Why was that?" Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously, her hands placed intimidatingly on her hips. Was this seriously what Naruto had had to deal with all the fricken time? And he'd still wanted to date the crazy kunoichi.

Sasuke thought quickly. A crush, the Yondaime had said something about a crush on Sakura. Now, how could he express that in Naruto-speak? "I didn't want to be separated from you, Sakura-chan!" He burst out, very Naruto-like.

He was rewarded with a slap on the cheek. "I would've preferred Kiba over you, Sasuke-baka!"

It was a strange experience; he had never been slapped so openly before, much less from Sakura. She had always had a lingering crush on him, and would have never thought of slapping him.

It stung.

Hard.

He once again briefly wondered how Naruto had even managed to have a crush on the girl and in that moment decided to drop the 'I want to be on Team 7 because of Sakura' act then and there.

"Sakura-chan, you didn't have to do that..." Sasuke managed to whine. It felt so strange; he had never really _whined_ before, and hoped he wouldn't have to do so again on another occasion.

"I don't like you, Sasuke, so _bug off_!"

"But Sakura-chaaann..." Now he was really pushing his own patience.

The tirade was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. All three heads turned quickly to the door, and there, looking surprisingly cold, was a tall, silver-haired Jonin.

_Kakashi-sensei,_ Sasuke thought silently. _Too bad I didn't try to pull a prank on him_. The thought surprised Sasuke but he shoved it to the side.

Sakura was furious with her new sensei. "Why are you so late?! And especially on the first-"

The Jonin cut her off. "Meet me on the rooftop in ten minutes." He narrowed his eyes. "Don't be late." And as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone.

Sasuke blinked. _Why is Kakashi-sensei so cold? Did something happen? _Then he smirked. _Or has the Yondaime been keeping him in shape?_

The introductions would be interesting indeed.

* * *

"Introduce yourselves."

Kakashi stood rigid in front of the three newly-promoted Genin. Their seats on the ground made it seem like the Jounin was even taller than he really was.

Intimidating. Not at all the lazy slouch that was no longer annoying to Sasuke but rather a reminder of a world he was no longer in, of a jonin sensei that was friendlier and more tolerating by the looks of it.

"Like what?" Sakura inquired.

"Likes. Dislikes. Hobbies. Goal."

Sasuke decided he'd better keep things as close to the original timeline as possible, just for the fun of things. "Kakashi-sensei, how about you go first?"

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are nobody's business. I have a few hobbies... My goal... I'd rather not say."

Sakura was indignant, but thankfully quiet. "So we only got his name..." she whispered to herself.

"You first, girl."

The addressed person bit her lip at the 'nickname', but she decided to continue. "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes..." she giggled nervously while glancing in Naruto's direction. The blond ignored her. "I dislike Sasuke. My hobby..." she shrugged. "My goal..." another giggle, and another glance at Naruto.

"You next, Uchiha."

Sasuke thought for a second. He did not like ramen or Sakura, nor did he want to become Hokage. _There goes Naruto's introduction... Well... this Sasuke would be different from the original Sasuke in this world._ "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like to train... and... I dislike..." his eyes glazed, and he was sure Kakashi saw. "I dislike traitors. I don't have much of a hobby, and my goal... I... I'm not sure of yet."

He could feel Kakashi's gaze linger on him for a few moments, then turn to Naruto.

"Your turn, Namikaze."

"My name is Namikaze Naruto. I have few likes but many dislikes. My hobby is irrelevant, and my goal is to surpass one person."

Again, Kakashi's gaze lingered on Naruto before he turned to the other two. "Tomorrow you'll be tested for Genin."

"But we already passed!" Sakura flared indignantly and Sasuke rolled his eyes, an action the Jonin did not miss.

Kakashi's one eye narrowed at Sakura. "The Academy Graduating Exam was simply for those who qualified to be tested. This test has a sixty-six percent dropout. If you pass, you'll become Genin. If you fail, you get sent back to the Academy."

Both Sakura's and Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief. Sakura's in shock at the harshness being directed at her. She was a teacher's pet so she was usually treated with kindness. Sasuke's eyes widened with the realisation that he was stuck doing the bell test AGAIN.

"Come to Training Area 9 (_What the hell happened to 7?_) tomorrow. Oh..." Kakashi's eyebrow formed into an amused expression. "And don't eat breakfast."

Three pairs of eyebrows were raised in inquiry.

"You'll puke."

Three pairs of eyes widened in horror. Sasuke's merely at the way the two statements, one from the lazy Kakashi and one from the coldly aloof one, differed. One was a friendly suggestion and the other was almost an order. Sasuke found himself thinking that this was going to get dodgy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows. **

**This chapter was beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Miaow. **

**To all those that think I should update more often since this is an adopted story, I'm getting you used to the idea that I won't be able to update every week or so no matter how much I'd like to. **

**Things as they are**

**Chapter 4**

_He could hear dripping. Liquid- water, perhaps? Or maybe acid? Maybe blood. _

_He tried to gather what he knew about the room he was in._

_Dripping liquid. It had dripping liquid._

_Dark. It was dark, too. With no light, none at all. _

_Cold- but not the cold of the underground he usually felt. This was … Bitter. Damp._

_Disgusting._

_Footsteps? Did he hear footsteps in the distance?_

_"Sasuke-kun, are you awake?"_

_Ironic. Such a caring phrase, yet such a sneering voice. How he hated being called –kun. _

_Silky, yet pure venom._

_He knew only one person with that voice._

_The hebi-sannin, Orochimaru._

_Hate, at first. He could not describe his fury at the sannin. But before his anger had erupted completely, Orochimaru spoke._

_"I suppose you know what is happening, don't you, Sasuke-kun?"_

_No. He wanted to say no. He wanted to spit in the hebi's face and torture him to death._

_But he couldn't. He'd chosen this path, it was his to follow._

_"Kukuku, Sasuke-kun, you can't speak, can you? Well, let me explain for you." The sannin began to pace around the table which Sasuke was chained to. "You are about to become an experiment."_

_The snake-like yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness leaned in closer, locking with the boy's Sharingan._

_"My experiment."_

_Pain. Indescribable pain._

_Then blackness._

* * *

Sasuke snapped up suddenly, hardly daring to breathe. He jerked his head around, almost expecting to see the huge glass vials filled with strange liquids and Orochimaru's face leering into his, a smug expression on his lips. Sasuke's lungs expanded, contracted, expanded, contracted-

An experiment.

_The hebi..._

Breathing deeply for a few minutes, he tried to calm himself down. _Quiet down, Sasuke! It was... It was only a dream..._

He shook his head.

Some things would never change, but for Naruto's sake, for _his_ sake, they had to.

* * *

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?!"

Again, Sakura was whining about the tardiness of her sensei. Again, it had only been five minutes. An entirely new experience for Sasuke and one he wasn't entirely sure he liked or not.

Sasuke felt like banging his head against the tree stump he was leaning on. His nightmare had left him in a foul mood, and now Sakura's whining was causing him a headache. No, scratch that, Sakura's whining _and_ Naruto's silence were both causing him a huge headache. "Will you _mind_ quieting _down_, Sakura?" It was more of an order than a question. A tone of voice he usually reserved for when speaking to Orochimaru, Kabuto and their snivelling experiments.

She glared at him. "Baka, you have absolutely _no right_ to order me in that tone!" Sakura placed her hands on her hips defiantly. "And I'll keep on complaining until _someone_," here she glanced at Naruto in a lovesick way, "tells me to stop."

_Do not Chidori your teammate, do not Chidori your teammate, do not Chidori your teammate_ …

Naruto, as usual, ignored her, his blond hair falling over his eyes as he glared at the ground. The Uchiha averted his eyes. He still had to reach Naruto before the Chuunin Exams, but he had no idea of how to do it. _I... I can't act like Naruto. That's just not_ me_. But unless I do, how can I reach him, like he did for me? Can I just... act myself? Will it work? I only have one chance..._

Sasuke snapped his head up suddenly, sensing a chakra signature on the left. Strange; it was hardly suppressed, and almost seemed _flaunted_. He raised an eyebrow. Surely Kakashi-sensei wasn't that stupid? Had he done that the first time around?

"Hey!" Not Kakashi-sensei's greeting.

A man walked out of the woods. _Uchiha_ was the first thought that came to Sasuke's mind. Short, spiky black hair, and ridiculous translucent orange goggles tied roughly where his hitai-ate should've been, or rather over it. He had this strange vibe about him that made Sasuke think of Naruto and that was weird.

Sasuke blinked. He didn't know this person at all. Should he just "wing it"? Was he supposed to know this person?

The female kunoichi of Team 7 glared at the man. "Who are you?" She asked, observing him closely. "You're not our sensei."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, then laughed. "I'm _the_ Uchiha Obito!" Obito? Why did that sound familiar?

Sakura's eyes twitched. " '_The_'?" She asked skeptically.

"Ehhh..." He gave a lopsided grin.

Sasuke tried to smile at this "Obito" person, but only managed a slight twitch of his lips. He noticed Sakura doing the same, but Naruto gave the man the angriest glare the blond could manage. He knew the Uchiha, personally.

Obito's face fell flat, and he groaned. "Great- two Kakashis!" But then he brightened- "Nice, a Rin!" He said, glancing at Sakura. "But I thought Sasuke-kun was supposed to be more like me?"

Suddenly, a voice from the trees on the left. "Shut it, Obito. What are you doing with my team?" Kakashi's voice was like steel, but the Uchiha with the goggles seemed used to it.

"Aww, Kakashi, you ruined _everything_..." Obito whined.

Sasuke blinked. This man seemed almost like the old Naruto, to an extent. With Kakashi-sensei like this, whatever this was, it reminded the younger Uchiha of himself and his own Naruto.

Kakashi rolled his one visible eye and joined Obito in front of his team. "Obito, you can watch if you want, but don't interfere."

"Whatever." Sasuke never thought he'd see a grown man pout AND an Uchiha no less.

"And now," the silver-haired Jounin turned to his new team, "your survival training will start." He took two bells out of his back pocket and dangled them in front of the Genin. "I have two bells here. If you get a bell before noon, you can have lunch. But if you _don't_ get a bell, you fail the test- and I'll tie you up to one of those posts over there," he pointed to three tall, wooden posts behind them, "and you will _watch_ me eat lunch."

Sakura gulped, then noticed something odd. "But sensei, there are only two bells."

Kakashi cocked his head and smirked. "Well, then one person is guaranteed to be tied up and sent back to the Academy."

All three Genin widened their eyes in terror, fervently hoping they wouldn't be the victims, Sasuke only because he'd been through this before and this new Kakashi was unknown to him.

* * *

Sasuke breathed quietly, hoping Kakashi-sensei wouldn't hear his steady breaths. He'd already suppressed his chakra to a level which would hide him from most Genin. Of course he expected Kakashi-sensei to notice him, but if Sasuke had suppressed his chakra to a level which would hide him from most Jounin, his sensei would become suspicious at his sudden "disappearance."

And the last thing Sasuke needed was for Kakashi to become suspicious.

But he didn't like losing. Still this test was never about the bells. He knew that but how would he convince the others of that? Sakura would do whatever Naruto did. Once again Sasuke was stuck with the sense of frustration, a frustration that he realised Naruto, his one anyway, had been faced with for most of his life.

The silence was tense. Though he had improved greatly under the tutelage of Orochimaru himself, the Uchiha boy still wasn't sure if he could take down Kakashi-sensei, a Jounin and ex-ANBU, by himself. Especially at the level he was at now. This wasn't the point of the exercise, he knew that and he had to remember that, but if Kakashi got to Naruto or Sakura before him...

A shrill scream interrupted his thoughts, and he jerked his head towards the noise. _Darn, he's already got Sakura..._

Only one thought ran through his mind as he raced through the trees.

_I have to find Naruto before Kakashi gets to him._

* * *

"Naruto."

Naruto, startled, jumped back from the voice. He relaxed when he saw it was Sasuke, but still held a wary glare.

"Naruto, we have to work together on this."

"And why should I do that?"

Sasuke winced. _Maybe I should've started differently..._ "Why do you think they put us into teams?"

"It's probably just a trick."

The dobe was being so _stubborn..._ Naruto, at least the one from this reality, seemed to have the potential to figure out this test but his arrogance was getting in the way. Sasuke swallowed his pride. "Please, you just have to trust me on this." He stepped forward. "Please."

Naruto could hardly believe it. He checked for a henge, but found there was none. Sasuke, the dead last, was actually _begging_ for help?

Sasuke pressed on. "I know the purpose of this test. I asked one of my relatives about it and they gave me a hint." He was lying, but he didn't care. He just needed Team 7 to pass the test. He didn't know what he'd do if Naruto called him out on being disowned.

The blond considered the idea, then rolled his eyes. It would be the first _and_ last time he'd do something like this. He had to become a genin so that he could progress. "Fine."

"Then this is what we'll do..." Too bad Sasuke couldn't use all his skills.

* * *

Kakashi did not like to wait. In fact, it irritated him every time he had to. And now he was irritated. _Very_ irritated.

Simply put, there had not been any action since the beginning of the test, when Sasuke had "challenged" him before disappearing into the forest. He did not count Sakura's failure to recognize genjutsu _action_.

"You think they have a chance of passing?" Obito asked from a bench, interrupting his thoughts. The Uchiha was lounging around, getting just as bored at the other Jonin, only his relief was to annoy said Jonin since he didn't have to keep an eye out for pesky genin.

The silver-haired Jounin shrugged. "If they pass, they pass; if they fail, they fail. It doesn't matter what I think."

Obito rolled his eyes. "But still, what do you think? Do you think they're promising enough?"

A sigh. "I have the extremes- the best and the worst in the class, matched with the average. Naruto, though sensei's son, seems the complete opposite of him. He's dark, moody, and overall inconsiderate of others. Sasuke, the Uchiha, is supposed to be the "dead last" of the Academy, but seems serious and mature enough. Minato-sensei also said he almost outran his ANBU." Obito's eyes widened in surprise, before recognition dawned and he muttered something about Shisui, and Kakashi continued on. "Finally, Sakura..." Another sigh. "She's all over Naruto and all under being a Shinobi. Not a good combination."

Obito snorted. "Figures, just like Rin was all over _you_ in the Academy. Still she was serious enough about being a ninja." The he dropped the grin. "But the dead last... almost outran _ANBU_? And sensei's _personal_ ANBU, to boot? Either he's hiding something, or the Academy's graduating level has jumped exponentially the last few years." He rubbed his temples.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I visited the Academy a few months ago to pick something up. It hasn't grown in level at all- it's still the same. Personally, I don't see how Sasuke could have outrun ANBU. I looked at all of his scores for the Academy, and they average about D-."

"Even in speed?"

"Even in speed. Perhaps the ANBU are starting to get soft. Peace does not do us any favours." _Us – ANBU._

Obito shook his head in disbelief, and ignoring the ANBU comment. It was ridiculous. Those guys were expected to be at the top of their game at all times. "Then he's hiding something." He glanced up, his expression filled with fear. "Do you think... _it_... got out?"

The other shook his head. "I checked for signs of demonic chakra, but found none. Sasuke is himself, though I don't see how he could have that extreme level of speed."

"Strange..."

Without warning, a few kunai were thrown out of the forest, aimed at Kakashi, but the Jounin quickly took out his own kunai and blocked the others without trouble. They weren't thrown with enough force. Both Naruto and Sasuke leaped out of the forest, and Kakashi, quick as always, struck both of them with the flat of his hand-

But they disappeared into smoke.

_Bunshin... These Genin are better than the other teams. But are they what I'm looking for? After all Bunshin and henge could mean only one genin, but which one?_

Sasuke leaped out of the forest on his right, and Kakashi was surprised- the "dead last's" speed did match that of ANBU's. But there was no time to think about that. Naruto had sprung out on his left, fast, but not as fast as Sasuke. Kakashi prepared to deal with them with taijutsu. He wouldn't resort to ninjutsu unless necessary, and his specialty was not genjutsu, but it just might be Sasuke's since he was an Uchiha … but he didn't have the Sharingan, at least that's what the reports said.

Obito was shocked into silence and awe; the two Genin were far better than expected, especially from the "dead last." The two were working flawlessly together. When one feinted, the other struck, and together they were slowly taking Kakashi down. It was almost as though they had worked together before, but reports said they hated each other. Activating his Sharingan, Obito noticed that it was _Sasuke_ that was working in conjunction with _Naruto_? It was Sasuke that was making the teamwork flawless.

Too bad it wasn't an only-taijutsu match.

_Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!_ Kakashi quickly formed the seals for the fire jutsu. Both of the Genin's eyes widened, but Sasuke, having the faster reflexes, pushed his friend out of harm's way. The large fireball was closing in on Sasuke, and for a moment the Jounin thought it would hit his new student.

But Sasuke, as usual, had a surprised for everyone.

At first it seemed like the Kaiten; then after, it seemed as if not. Sasuke, having decided he wouldn't be able to survive the Goukakyuu without using one of his high-levelled jutsus, or using his own fireball which would result only in a larger explosion, performed a jutsu derived from the Kaiten, except in mid-air. The spinning air quickly deflected the fire and dissipated the fireball within a few seconds.

_It isn't possible,_ Kakashi thought, _but there it is._

He noticed the spinning Sasuke had just performed the bunshin no jutsu and sent it behind Kakashi.

He also noticed its hands were reaching for the bells. Bunshin, unless made out of something like mud or water, couldn't actually touch anything. Unless it was a shadow clone. What was the Uchiha playing at?

But then he noticed Sasuke's pupils flash crimson red for a moment, then disappear. _Sharingan..._Or was it just a trick of the light? Whatever it was, it served to distract him and perhaps that's all that it had really been intended to do.

He felt something on his hip. _Right where the bells were- _he wasn't a jonin for nothing and he wasn't going to lose to the _supposed_ 'dead last' of the Academy!

Kakashi snapped his arm towards the bunshin and it exploded into a smoke ball. Mentally, he let out a sigh. _That has got to be the first time a Genin has gotten that close to getting a bell from him._

Indeed, this "dead last" Uchiha Sasuke was definitely someone to look into.

* * *

Sasuke breathed hard, his lungs gasping in air. He noticed Obito and Naruto gaping at him and Kakashi's one eye scrutinizing him suspiciously.

He cursed. _I knew I shouldn't have done that..._

But a voice in the back of his head resisted: _If you hadn't, Naruto would've been scorched!_

_Still..._

_Isn't it worth it to save the dobe?_

Growling in frustration Sasuke jerked his head away from the others so they wouldn't see the battle of emotions raging in his eyes. He wasn't as skilled as he'd been in his own world but he was definitely above average, way better than when he'd been a genin the first time and wondered if he could still use all the techniques he'd been working on.

Still, was displaying those skills to save the not-so-dobe dobe?

Sasuke decided it was. He was about to give a plausible explanation for his unexpected move when suddenly a sharp, repeating bell rang out through the clearing. Mentally, he swore. _We still didn't get the bells... but we_ did _use teamwork. Does that mean we pass, or not? Is this new Kakashi enough like the old one to pass us?_

"Well," Kakashi started, "do you now know the reason for this test?"

"Was it teamwork?" _Darn_ Naruto, stealing Sasuke's answers. At least Sasuke never took credit when it wasn't due. He sneered in distaste at the blond.

"Correct. Genin, if they worked together, could theoretically take a Jonin down. Since you two teamed up, you two pass." Kakashi's eye formed a slight crescent.

"But sensei," Naruto started, "we didn't get a bell. What do you mean, we pass?" And they called Sasuke the dobe. There was the Naruto he knew and loved to hate.

"The bells were never the objective of the mission. Look beneath the underneath. The true meaning was teamwork. And since you two did that, both of you pass."

"But what about Sakura?" Sasuke asked, fearful all three wouldn't be passed and therefore change the future. He couldn't predict the future of a different timeline. But this fear was unfounded. It had to be. Still, this Kakashi was not his Kakashi. "A genin team is three!" Sasuke added with a protest and saw an odd yet surprised gleam in Kakashi's visible eye.

"Sakura, I'm afraid, has failed. She will be tied up to one of the poles, while you two will get lunch." Kakashi seemed not to care.

A voice came from the far corner of the clearing: "Who will get what?"

Sakura grinned and waved. "I broke out of the genjutsu, Kakashi-sensei! Now what?"

Everyone sweatdropped at the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Ehh, what did I do?"

"I don't care what you say. Genin teams are three. Sakura passes or we all go back to the Academy!" Sasuke wasn't sure where the outburst had come from but it was there and it was surprising everyone, including himself.

"Didn't he request to be on your team because of Sakura?" Obito whispered to Kakashi whose eye twitched.

"If that's true then I'll eat my own mask." Kakashi deadpanned.

"Oooo, Sasuke-kun, why did you request to be placed on Team 7?" Obito asked gleefully.

"Yuuhi's team was not in my skill set." Sasuke replied shortly. "Team 7 also has Hatake as the jonin sensei. He is the jonin most suited to my fighting style."

"Well that was unexpected. Who knew there was actually a poor misguided soul out there that truly wanted to be around your arrogant ass Kakashi? Don't worry Sasuke-kun, I'll save you from your deluded misconceptions of this baka." Obito laughed when Kakashi sent him a withering glare.

"If that's the way you see things Obito, then why the hell are you still bugging the shit out of me?" Kakashi snapped but internally he was thinking that unexpected just didn't seem to be adequate enough when it concerned a certain Uchiha.

* * *

Obito and Kakashi walked away from the training ground, both of them more than a little stunned. Kakashi was trying to wrap his head around the fact that Sasuke had been so different from the report and was starting to understand why his sensei had made the switch.

Obito was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Kakashi had actually passed a team. How could he not when they'd worked together so flawlessly?

"It was all Sasuke, wasn't it?" Kakashi asked quietly, looking to Obito with a sideways glance. Obito was walking on Kakashi's right so that he wasn't in the other jonin's blind spot.

"With the teamwork? Yeah it was. It was like he knew how Naruto-kun would fight." Obito replied. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I mean what if he's a spy right, and his whole aim is to get close enough to the Hokage."

"If that were the case then what about the last twelve years? He's been the open favourite of Minato-sensei's for years. No, it's not an assassination plot, it's different." Kakashi mused.

"Maybe we're all over thinking things here. This is Sasuke-kun we're talking about right, and he _is_ an Uchiha. Then there's _that_ sealed within him. It could be making a difference. Not to mention, Sasuke-kun is the younger brother of Itachi-kun. There had to be some family resemblance." Obito suggested.

"But why hide?" Kakashi countered.

"Didn't he say it was because everyone hates him?"

Kakashi didn't reply. They'd reached the jonin station where all the jonin sensei had planned to meet to give the results of their individual tests. Kakashi sighed and mentally prepared himself for a lot of irritation. This was going to get bothersome.

Obito grabbed his arm and yanked him inside. "Hey everybody! You're never going to believe this!" he announced as he walked in, dragging a reluctant Kakashi.

"Let me guess, Kakashi failed his team, again. Man I'd hate to be the Hokage when he gets home tonight." Asuma chuckled.

"Wrong! Kakashi passed them! Sasuke-kun figured out the meaning behind the test and oh so skilfully got Naruto to work with him. You guys should have seen it. It was amazing." Obito gushed dramatically. Personally Kakashi thought he was over doing it but that was Obito for you. He never did anything like a normal sane person would.

Several people choked on their coffee while others dropped things they'd been holding. Mostly though, they stared at Kakashi in shock.

"What? I couldn't fail them after that." Kakashi very nearly pouted. "Besides, Sasuke did some rather interesting things. I want to see what else he can do."

"But Hatake-san, I thought that Sasuke-kun was more of a tracking kind?" Yuuhi asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Yeah, so did we. But he's more of a frontal attack type. Doesn't really wait in the shadows. He started the test by coming right at me." Kakashi replied with a frown. "But now that I think about it, it was like he was doing it …" Kakashi's voice trailed off and Obito's eyes widened.

"Like he was doing it for old time's sake." Obito finished. "He wasn't really focusing on the spar. His attention was on the trees where Naruto-kun and the pink haired one was hiding. Not very well I might add."

"Things just get worse and worse." Kakashi sighed. "And now I actually have to teach them."

"I don't want to freak you out Kakashi, but I gotta tell you. I think Sasuke-kun has been stalking you." Obito suddenly whispered overly loudly and with too much dramatic flair. Kakashi narrowed his gaze at the Uchiha who grinned back.

"And why do you think that?" Kakashi deadpanned.

"Cause he fights just like you do. Well when he's not using the Uchiha style, which by the way is very sloppy. It never was quite as effective when one doesn't have a Sharingan. Anyways, there were some moves in there that weren't from you or the Uchiha style, but that could just be improvisation but I don't think so. He was too thoughtless in the action, instinctual. It's really kind of creepy when I think about just how much he reminds me of your fighting style when you were still a jackass and started to copy the Uchiha style just to piss me off." Obito explained.

Kakashi sighed. He really hated it when the genin teams surprised him. However, this was the first time they'd over exceeded his expectations.

"He's better at this underneath the underneath thing than you are my Eternal Rival." Gai said with his eyes wide. "I did not think it was possible."

"We'll just have to wait and see." Kakashi dismissed, folding his arms across his chest to indicate he was done with this conversation. He would have been out of here long ago but he had to wait for Minato sensei. Things were going to get very interesting indeed.

* * *

"Naruto, at point A. Target is in sight."

"Sasuke, at point B. Target is also in sight."

"Sakura, at point C. Target... in sight."

"Good. Close in and capture target."

Sasuke shook his head as he tried to keep his concentration. He had stayed up late the previous night, reviewing some scrolls he'd found in his apartment. So far he'd found nothing interesting but if he took into consideration that he was supposed to be like Naruto in this reality, then any scrolls he deemed worthy of keeping had to have something either completely useless or utterly golden in them. But so far, nothing. That exhaustion plus the pure _boredom_ of continuous D-ranked missions was beginning to eat at his attention span, which was already dwindling.

As Sasuke listened to Obito-san's hardly-disguised chuckles, absentmindedly he wondered if D-ranked missions were created for the amusement of the Jounin senseis.

A shrill meow rang out through the forest, alerting the Uchiha boy that the target, a.k.a. Tora the cat, was caught. And a few minutes earlier than estimated, by his watch. Well finally, he was about to die of boredom.

He moved in, pushing aside a few bushes blocking his sight. The view was as expected. Sakura was comforting the cat, while it tried to squirm free. Considering what he knew of that cat he certainly didn't blame the darn thing. If this wasn't a mission, he'd actually set it free out of pity. The Uchiha did typically summon ninja cats after all.

Though when it caught sight of Sasuke, Tora suddenly decided a new target had appeared.

He tried to push the clawing menace away from his face- _Not the eyes, not the eyes!_- with little success. Suddenly, Tora's fate didn't seem to sadden the Uchiha all that much.

Sasuke shuddered as Sakura finally took pity on him and lifted the cat away.

_I really, really hate cats. Well, that cat anyway._

* * *

"What mission do you want next? There's walking dogs, helping out at a home, babysitting, painting some fences, village chores, planting the tomato crops, harvesting the bean crops..." The Yondaime's voice droned on. While tomatoes were Sasuke's favourite, he just didn't think he liked them enough to actually plant them. He actually almost considered it though, just so that he could get a few seeds and start his own little tomato patch, seeing as the stores didn't sell him anything worth eating.

It seemed as if Team 7 were almost asleep due to the man's low tone, however, Sasuke was thinking a matter over, a more important matter than that of tomato plants. _If I interrupt him and ask for a better ranked mission, we'll go on a mission to Wave Country. Yet, if I don't, we get stuck with more D-ranked missions._

_...Is there even a competition?_

He glanced at the pile of papers the blond was shuffling.

_Well, I guess I'd better start my outburst..._

_Acting Naruto-like is_ so _not me. Oh man, this gets more embarrassing every time I do it_ …

"Hey, Minato-oyaji!"

Minato looked up at the excitable Uchiha. For once, he was glad to see the boy acting like himself. "What is it, Sasuke-kun?" He asked, a smile tugging at his lips. _If I know Sasuke-kun, then he's bored of these D-ranked missions._

"I'm bored of these annoying missions! Can't we do something cooler, not that tomatoes aren't cool and all but come on!? This is getting ridiculous. I'm too awesome for these kinds of missions. I need something with action! I need something with princesses–"

Kakashi promptly silenced the boy with a slap on the back of the head and Sasuke could cry for the relief he felt. That acting was starting to require far too little effort on his part. "Disregard his rudeness, Sensei." Kakashi really was so much more respectful in this reality. Man, it was almost annoying.

"But, aren't you tired of these missions, too?" Sasuke whined, faking tears, which unsurprisingly had no effect on the silver-haired Jounin.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "That is beside the point. Genin take D-ranks and as your sensei, so do I."

"You are, aren't you, Kakashi-sensei? That 'rules are everything' crap is only an act, isn't it? I bet you'd love nothing better than to grab one of those weird little orange books and read it to your heart's content, no matter where you are. And being on time has got to be a pain in the ass–"

"_Silence_!" An enraged yell from Iruka shut Sasuke up quickly. "Genin aren't supposed to do C-ranked missions! Those are reserved for Chuunin only! _Do you understand, Sasuke_?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke waved his hand dismissively. "Back to the point! Can we do one, Minato-oyaji? Please? Please? Puh-_leeze_?" Interestingly enough, Kakashi was silent as a crypt about Sasuke's earlier statements. Maybe Sasuke would get him an Icha Icha as a present.

"You disgraceful-" Iruka's face was reddening. Man that guy had a temper.

Minato held a chuckle in. Sasuke was rather amusing, he admitted that. He somehow brought the best out of everyone... even if they were unwilling to admit it. "Sure, Sasuke-kun, I have just the C-ranked mission for you." And really, the mission he had in mind would be perfect. It would satisfy Sasuke and Iruka.

Sasuke's face turned gleeful, while Iruka shouted indignantly, "What? Hokage-sama, you cannot be serious!"

"I am," Minato's eyes sparkled with excitement. "if Team 7 agrees." Jip, it would be perfect. It was hardly more than a babysitting job after all. Kakashi might just hate him for it but oh well.

Sasuke immediately gave his consent. "Hai, I'm ready!"

Naruto tilted his head, and Minato took it as another consent. If only that boy had a little more expression, something a little more like Sasuke, well more like the way Sasuke had been. It saddened him to think that he now had two, wait counting Kakashi made three stoic individuals that were precious to him.

Sakura, seeing her crush's decision, agreed as well. "If Naruto-kun wants to do the mission," she blushed, "then I will, too."

Kakashi, though, was silent for a few moments, his expression unreadable. Finally, "Genin are not supposed to do C-ranked missions. Is this wise?" he asked. Ah, back to the rules again. Sasuke was sooo getting him an Icha Icha book. That book was going to haunt his sensei until he accepted it.

"Are you questioning my decision?"

The silver-haired Jounin sighed. There was no getting around him, was there? "No, Sensei. I agree to the mission."

"Good!" Minato leaned back in his chair with a large grin, like he hadn't just levelled his best jonin with a glare cold enough to freeze hellfire. "Iruka, give Kakashi the information slip."

Iruka, thankfully without protesting, handed the man a slip of paper- though grudgingly. "I still wish you hadn't..." he muttered.

"You will be escorting someone to the Land of the Wave." Minato smiled at Sasuke's shining eyes, never guessing the boy was acting his excitement. On the inside, Sasuke wanted to groan. There had always been the off chance that the mission had been given to some other team or that it had taken place next week. But as luck would have it, it was this week, on this day, in this particular hour.

How fun.

"Who will we escort, oyaji? A princess, maybe? Someone royal, I hope!" Sasuke jumped up and down in anticipation. Outwardly smiling like a fool, but inwardly the Uchiha was thinking of ways to calm down by imagining all those that he'd like to throttle. Wasn't so bad when he thought if it that way. _Oh look, there went Orochimaru, ah Kabuto, he would not be missed, ooo now it was this weird ass Naruto who never smiled . . ._

"Tazuna-san," Minato called, "you may come in now."

Team 7 turned towards the door behind them. A man, roughly built and raggedly-dressed, walked in. He held a sake bottle in one hand and a towel in the other, draped casually over his shoulder. His grey beard and bespectacled face only brought the three Genin back to reality.

Sasuke's face fell dramatically. They were _definitely_ not escorting someone royal and he would know.

"These three kids are escorting me?" he asked incredulously. Tazuna, as Hokage-sama had addressed him, pointed at Sasuke. "Hey, is that one with the stupid face really a ninja? 'Cause he sure doesn't look like one."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in anger, but said nothing. Still he had to wonder how it was possible that _he_ looked like the stupid one in this reality when he was acting no different from the last time and in his reality Naruto had been the stupid looking one. Minato and Iruka's eyebrows raised simultaneously. Sasuke was not usually one for restraint in situations like these and there probably went the little bit of comfort the Hokage felt around him. Now he was just going to be even more suspicious and if Sasuke kept falling into the 'act like Naruto' bit, the Yondaime was going to catch on and realise that he could switch it on and off like a light switch. It would not end well.

A tense silence reigned as Team 7 digested the insult. Kakashi, as a rule, did not like people making derogatory remarks about his team (it was his _only_ team and it was by extension insulting him), though his expression stayed the same. Naruto stared with indifference, and Sakura couldn't have cared less. Seeing their reactions clenched at Sasuke's heart, but he gritted his teeth in silence.

Tazuna rolled his eyes, unimpressed at their control of emotions. "I'll be going to the Country of the Wave. Hope you gakis aren't too scared of water."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "We are ninjas, Tazuna-san, not kids to be babied. Whatever it takes to get you there, we will do it." Sasuke knew better than anyone just where this mission was headed. Straight for the A-ranks. At least there was something there.

"Whatever," Tazuna shrugged.

Kakashi turned to his team. "Tomorrow, eight o'clock, at the East Gate. Don't dawdle." And with those instructions, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke held back a snort and wondered if he should be late, just for the hell of it.

Minato watched the three Genin walk out of the room. He leaned back, and absentmindedly, he wondered how they would hold up. He was a little saddened when Sasuke-kun didn't look back as he left.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Sasuke-kun poked his head through the door and grinned mischievously as though he knew that Minato wasn't expecting this, "Thanks for the mission Minato-oyaji." Then he was gone again.

The Hokage sighed and wondered just how many more surprises that boy was going to throw at him.

* * *

"Sakura."

Sakura turned, finding the person she least expected. "Sasuke-baka," she hissed, "What do you want?"

Sasuke's eyes held a blank stare. "Sakura." Yet inwardly, he found himself asking, once again, how the hell Naruto had put up with it and why he ever liked Sakura in the first place?

She was surprised at the lack of the _-chan_ he usually added to her name. Now he sounded strange; like it was a whole different person speaking. The kunoichi crossed her arms in annoyance a disdainful expression came over her face.

Though, whatever she was expecting Sasuke to say did not come. Instead …

"Sakura, are you a Shinobi or not?"

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. _You're not a Shinobi_ was the hidden message behind the question, like he knew something she didn't. Those eyes said it all. Sasuke's bold, onyx eyes narrowed at her, challenging her, sneering at her, _mocking_ her-

"Why you-" Sakura fisted her hand and drew back for a punch. An automatic reflex where Sasuke was involved.

But Sasuke was behind her before she knew it. His grip on her wrist was iron-like, fierce and unmerciful. Sakura could feel his hot breaths on her neck.

When had he gotten so fast? He'd always been beaten by Naruto-kun and she'd always landed her punches before … before graduation.

"By the way you fawn over Naruto, I'd think you were a simple lovesick girl. And I'm beginning to think that's right."

She tried to twist out of his grip, but her efforts were in vain.

"Naruto doesn't care about anyone who doesn't try hard to be a Shinobi. All he cares about is strength." That was assuming Naruto was exactly as he'd been when he was younger.

Tears leaked out of her eyes. _**He's right,**_ her Inner Self told her. _**Naruto-kun doesn't care...**_

"You have to train hard to be a Shinobi. One of the best. It's not something you can simply answer, like a test. It's a way of _life_. The answers don't come in a textbook and can't be recited."

_Naruto-kun doesn't care..._

"Train harder. Only then will Naruto acknowledge you."

_He doesn't..._

The iron-like grip was released, and Sakura fell forward, breathing deep, uneven breaths.

_He doesn't care about people who don't try hard to be a Shinobi._

_Am I... like that?_

She turned around, only to see Sasuke had disappeared.

_Train harder._

She gripped the edge of the kunai she had taken out.

_It's true, only then..._

Sakura lifted it to the back of her head. One hand held a fistful of hair, while the other gripped the kunai, shaking.

A single slice.

A single stroke.

Pink hair fluttered down to the ground. A momentary decision that felt _right_.

_...will he acknowledge me._

* * *

The next day, Sakura came to the East Gate with her cherry pink hair cropped at shoulder-length.

To any dignified kunoichi, such as Yamanaka Ino, the act she had done the previous night would have seemed like a scandal, no less than a heinous crime. Naruto, as usual, gave the new haircut one glance and then looked away. He had no time for lovesick fangirls such as a certain two blond and pink haired kunoichi. Sasuke gave Sakura an approving look before he too looked away. Kakashi made no outward sign of noticing the hairstyle, and Tazuna had not yet arrived.

The pink-haired kunoichi sighed. _At least they didn't say anything negative, right? Especially Naruto-kun. __**But he should've at least smiled a bit! That boy doesn't know anything about how hard it is to be a kunoichi!**_ Lately, Sakura noticed her Inner Self had become quite active in conversations.

Naruto never smiled. So why would now be any different. Now that Sasuke had confronted her, she realised just how much of a fool she'd been, just how she must seem to Naruto.

She started to walk over to Naruto, but then remembered Sasuke's words.

_"Sakura, are you a Shinobi or not?"_

_"By the way you fawn over Naruto, I'd think you were a simple lovesick girl. And I'm beginning to think that's right."_

_"Naruto doesn't care about anyone who doesn't try hard to be a Shinobi."_

Sakura froze midstep, then backed away from her crush and instead stood a few yards away from him. She crossed her arms, but said nothing, and stared at the ground. Kakashi rose a single eyebrow at the new development. Any day Sakura decided _not_ to proclaim her love to Naruto was a special day indeed; but he said nothing, as he did not wish to ruin the peaceful lull that had come over the four Shinobi.

The three Genin found something very interesting with the ground for the next few minutes. Sasuke mentally sighed, finding the silence straining. He felt the urge to break it, since it clashed with his expectations and memories of his team but he was stubborn. He would not be the one to break the silence. That was Naruto's job.

But … in this world, he was Naruto.

"Ohayo, gaki!" Tazuna, their client, jogged up to the group. He was dressed as before: ragged clothes and a sake bottle in hand. "Let's go!"

Silence greeted him, but Kakashi rose and joined Tazuna. Slowly, the Genin did as well - Sakura first, then Sasuke, then finally Naruto. Sasuke figured that Naruto and Sakura didn't think much of Tazuna or his mission. He suspected that Kakashi had already figured something was up with the man but wasn't certain about it, and could possibly be chalking up suspicions up to a case of paranoia. Sasuke, however, knew better.

As the group began walking out of Konohagakure, Tazuna's high spirits were somewhat dampened by the silent Shinobi. When he had requested escorts, he hadn't expected a group of regular _ice blocks_. What was it with Shinobi and their 'no emotions' rule?

Tazuna brightened when he heard Sakura speak up: "Kakashi-sensei, are there Shinobi in the Country of the Wave?" Maybe he wouldn't be the only one talking.

"No."

Or maybe he would.

Sasuke mentally wondered if he should ask the same questions from before, but decided against it seeing as he already knew the answers, assumed the other two already knew them seeing as it was Naruto, the Rookie of the Year and Sakura, the regular know it all in anything theoric, and if they didn't know he didn't care enough to bug the grumpy Jonin into telling them.

Icha Icha was so on his to do list …

* * *

Kakashi did not pause when he noticed the conspicuous puddle of water lying on the road, but that did not mean he did not notice it.

A puddle on the road? It had not rained for days.

His hand slowly reached for a kunai and he readied himself for a fight.

* * *

Sasuke had foreknowledge of the Demon Brothers' attack, of course, but what should he do? Naruto had frozen up with fear, in the original timeline; should he also? Or should he fight?

His expression formed into somewhat of a smirk.

Of course he would fight. What type of question was that?

* * *

Naruto narrowed his sapphire eyes. He knew something was off. That puddle back there; it wasn't a real one, was it? He gripped a kunai he had hidden in his pocket.

He was no ordinary Genin, after all.

He could fight.

* * *

Sakura felt uneasy. She couldn't state exactly why; something put her on edge, and she couldn't concentrate. But she would be ready.

After all, she wasn't weak...

Was she?

* * *

It all happened so quickly.

Chains wrapped around Kakashi and tightened in on a mass of blood and flesh, breaking through with a sickening _crunch_.

"One down," a menacing voice called. The Demon Brothers were here.

Sasuke knew he needed to act, and to act fast. "Sakura, guard Tazuna-san!" He ordered. Rushing at the two Chuunin, he drew out a dull kunai, mentally noting that he'd have to buy some new ones when he returned. He slashed at one's chained glove, forcing chakra in to the blade since it was so blunt it was almost useless. One end of the long chain snapped in half, then wrapping around the other Demon Brother. Sasuke, with a quick leap and a strong roundhouse kick, sent both of the brothers into a tree.

And then it was done.

The fight, the one Naruto was supposed to take part in, was over.

And that - that _dobe_ - had just hogged up all of the glory.

How _dare_ he.

Anger came before reason, in Naruto's case. All he saw was his missed opportunity, not the skill that Sasuke should not have had.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" a breathless Sakura rushed up to the blond, unable to suppress her fangirlism. He shrugged her off, still seething over Sasuke's show.

_He is worthy of my rivalry... When did that happen? _Naruto found himself wondering to himself when the level of the fight and the one who had been fighting finally wormed its way through his answer.

Sasuke was stronger than him. Sasuke of all people, was better than _he_ was. He was faster for one thing, having acted and dismantled their attackers before Naruto could even react. Still Sasuke had seemed disappointed with himself, as though he wasn't satisfied.

He _would_ surpass the Uchiha, no matter what, and then go on to surpass his _Otou-san_.

_I will surpass..._

* * *

Sasuke mentally kicked himself. He was supposed to be a Genin, the dead last of the Academy. How could he have revealed his talents - albeit only a slight fraction - of what he could do? And with Kakashi, the all-seeing Copy Nin Kakashi, there, it only secured the Hoakge's suspicions.

After all, Genin weren't _supposed_ to be able to perform the Kaiten in mid-air.

Genin weren't _supposed_ to be able to pinpoint Chuunins' positions.

Genin weren't _supposed_ to be able to defeat Chuunin, _period_. And two of them at that.

Sasuke sighed.

He knew Kakashi was going to have a little "talk" with him when they reached the Country of the Wave.

* * *

Kakashi had not been killed, of course; ex-ANBU had more skill than that. As soon as he had seen the suspicious-looking puddle, he had gone on guard immediately. And when the Demon Brothers had appeared, he had performed kawamiri. The Demon Brothers were down, as he expected.

But what he did not expect was Sasuke's sudden burst of power and skill. More so than what he had displayed during the bell test. Kakashi chalked that off to trying to lower his skill so that he was on par with Naruto and in so doing was working together with him and meeting the teamwork requirement.

Suddenly the boy improved in less than a split second - and took down the two Chuunin single-handedly.

Something told him Sasuke had been hiding his skill for quite some time. Perhaps even since Kakashi had met him. How could he have missed it? The nervous glances, the sudden changes, the incident at the Uchiha compound, his unexpected aced final exam.

_Has he unlocked the Sharingan yet, I wonder?_

He wanted answers.

And when Hatake Kakashi wanted answers, he wouldn't stop until he got them.

* * *

"Tazuna-san."

The bridge builder looked up in a mix of annoyance, apprehensiveness, and fear.

_Fear at being discovered,_ Kakashi thought. _So I am right._

"You may be wondering why I left my Genin team to fight the Demon Brothers." _Which they - or rather, Sasuke - handled quite well, _Kakashi added silently. The bridge builder made no implication that he did. "I had to see who they were after, since it could have been me, a Jonin with a rather large bounty on his head, it could have been Naruto, given his parentage, and it could have been Sasuke for a number of reason. And then, lastly, it could have been you." His onyx, all-perceptive eyes seemed to stare straight through Tazuna, who gave an involuntary shudder. "Why were the Demon Brothers after you?"

Kakashi's tone left no room for protests, and Tazuna decided honesty would be his best policy. He sighed. "For a long time, Gatou - I'm sure you know who he is -"

"Who is he, sensei?" Sakura interrupted.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Gatou, a wealthy businessman. I've known about him since he first came into power."

Sakura mouthed a silent 'oh' and motioned Tazuna to continue on. He cleared his throat. "Well, as I was saying..."

* * *

Mist was not uncommon in the Country of the Wave. Clearly the name of the land stated so. But _this_ mist... It was odd. Not quite wet, far too thick - and a certain tingly feeling which made Kakashi on guard.

Also was the fact that the entire mist had formed in less than a minute. A glance at Sasuke only strengthened his tension, since the supposed genin was more on guard than he was. While he was suspicious, Sasuke was expectant, like he knew something they did not.

"Hatake Kakashi, also known as the Second White Fang of Konoha." A deep voice, slightly muffled by cloths. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the name, adding it to his list of differences.

He knew that man. That zanbanto, there was only one like it. "Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist."

"I'm honoured that you know me."

The voice came from another part of the mist. Inwardly, Kakashi hit himself for detaining the blindfolded training he had meant to do. He depended far too much on his eyes, but in this mist they were near useless.

But Kakashi - one of the best - was not going to back down at all. He was ex-ANBU, and still had some of his pride to retain. "If you know me, Zabuza, then you should know my background. Do you wish to challenge one of Konoha's best?"

Hollow laughter. "Your bark is worse than your bite, for those who have not much bite tend to bark louder. Isn't that right, Kakashi?" More laughter mocked Kakashi.

"I see you will not back down."

"Do not try to stop me. All I need to do is kill that old man over there and my job will be done. But if you get in the way..." the voice trailed off.

Kakashi responded by dropping into his regular fighting stance.

"I see there is no way to stop you."

An eyebrow-less man's face came into view.

"Then let us see who is the stronger."

* * *

Namikaze Minato, though his duties as the Yondaime Hokage were taxing, liked to relax every once in a while. He had come to name paperwork as his number one enemy, and the best way he knew how to relieve himself of the stress was to get some ramen to eat. Ramen did always taste good.

Especially Ichiraku's ramen.

He strolled into the small ramen stand, smiling and waving at the bewildered customers and the delighted cooks Teuchi and Ayame. Minato was not wearing his robes; after acquiring his position, he found - much to his dismay - that the robes were rather stuffy and hot, so he ditched them whenever he could.

"One bowl of beef ramen for me!" he ordered, giving his trademark lopsided grin at the prospect of his favourite food.

Teuchi smiled and shook his head. Some things never changed. "Coming right up," he replied, disappearing into the back of the stand to make some of the delicious ramen.

Ayame handed Minato a glass of water, blushing slightly as she did so. After all, it wasn't every day that the Yondaime came to Ichiraku's.

A small smile graced Minato's lips. He couldn't wait for his ramen. It was his favourite food in the world, aside from Kushina's cooking but … that was a painful topic.

Absentmindedly, Minato wondered if Kakashi and Team 7 were faring well. Genin were not supposed to take C-ranked missions, after all, but on a whim he had let them. _Was it the right decision?_ He wondered. But then smiling to himself, Minato took a sip of water. They'd be fine, he knew that. His student, Hatake Kakashi, the second White Fang, was on their team, as well as Sasuke, the Kyuubi no gaki, and -

Minato's smile faltered. Naruto. His son.

He couldn't describe his feelings about his son. Lately, the two had been arguing even more so than before. In fact, almost every time Minato and Naruto met, there was often a petty argument between the two. It was as if they were _obligated_ to argue.

Minato missed the days when he would come home from the Hokage's office to be greeted by an exuberant Naruto. He could see a messy blond-haired, sparkling sapphire-eyed boy running up to him as fast as those short legs could run... But Naruto was all grown up now, already a ninja.

And a great rift had formed between them. A rift he wasn't even entirely sure he knew how it had formed.

He partly blamed it on the excessive paperwork that had increased over the last few years. More and more Minato found himself at the office instead of at home. _If I were working at home instead of at the office, would we still be so far apart?_ he wondered.

Minato's hands gripped the clay cup as he wandered in his thoughts. And he would've lifted it to his lips, but -

Sapphire eyes snapped back to reality as his ears picked up a low, but distinguishable sound. The blue orbs shifted their gaze to the painted cup in his hands.

Water spilled out of a jagged crack on the cup's side.

An involuntary chill ran up Minato's spine. His eyes widened in horror. _An omen... Naruto. No, no, how could this be?_ He stared at the cup, a few drops of water slowly dripping out. _Their C-ranked mission..._ He drew a sharp breath in panic.

The cup crashed to the counter. Ayame, hearing the noise, swirled around -

But where Minato had been there was now an empty seat, the chill of the night air as the entrance curtain flurried about -

And a cracked clay cup surrounded by a small pool of water.

* * *

Zabuza, the infamous Demon of the Mist, lunged forward from his place on the shore with every intention to kill Kakashi. With a huge zanbatou gripped in both hands, he leaped up above the small group. He could see Tazuna, and a bloodthirsty gleam shone in his eyes. _Tazuna,_ he thought as he descended, _you're mine!_

Of course, a certain Leaf Jonin had different plans.

"Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto!" Kakashi ordered, his eyes never leaving Zabuza, "Guard Tazuna! Swatsika form!" The three Genin immediately formed the familiar guarding stance. Sasuke knew of a few other stances which would be more defensive, but he knew this was hardly the time to argue and hardly the time to educate his fellow teammates either.

Kakashi's onyx eyes flashed with the thought of a challenge. It had been quite some time since he had had a battle with a worthy opponent...

A flash of steel temporarily blinded Zabuza as Kakashi drew his chakra blade. It was sleek, and had kanji running up both sides of the blade. A rough cloth was wrapped around its hilt for traction. As the silver-haired Jonin grasped it, Sasuke noticed a white chakra dance its way up the blade. _That chakra must be the Hatake's Kekkei Genkai, _he realized, grateful he had read through Kabuto's information book. A Kekkei Genkai that Kakashi had never been able to use in his world because he'd never had the chakra to spare seeing as the Sharingan had always been so taxing. Did this mean that Kakashi did not have the Sharingan, did this confirm something Sasuke had begun to suspect?

As Zabuza landed, Kakashi whipped around, ripping the missing-nin's body into half - only to find that the nin's body lost form and splashed onto the ground, merely a water clone. He turned away, as he had expected nothing less from an S-classed missing-nin.

Naruto was shivering from the intense sakki being poured out. He had never been in a real battle before, and in the long run, it mattered not as much how a person trained, but how they reacted in battle. He was pale and shivering - barely holding onto the thin thread of hope that kept him from running away from the battle.

Sakura only noticed a certain thickness in the air, as she found it hard to breathe, and a clench in her chest, but could not identify it as sakki.

Sasuke was not shivering at all; rather, he had an odd feeling of strange enjoyment. Perhaps it was because of the lack of action in D-ranked missions. Orochimaru had often lashed out on some of his less fortunate subordinates and sometimes, that horrible sakki - a hundred times worse than this - had leaked out onto Sasuke. Which, resultantly, had given him a high tolerance for sakki. _That dobe better shape up least he attempt the same stunt I did last time around_, Sasuke sneered to himself.

Kakashi slid into a neutral stance as he surveyed the area around him. Zabuza was somewhere, he knew enough to know the former mist nin was not enough of a coward to flee at the beginning of battle. "Where are you, Zabuza?" Kakashi muttered, scanning the shores. He could see little in the thick fog blanketing the landscape, but tried anyway. _Right? No. Left? No. In front? No. Up? No. Behind -_

Before Kakashi could respond, Zabuza had appeared in between him and his team, grinning maniacally. The nin, in one smooth stroke, swung his huge weapon towards Tazuna, where it prepared to behead both a pink-haired girl and a blond-haired boy. It drew closer, three feet - two feet - one foot remaining -

As quick as a flash, Sasuke was in the path of the zanbatou. His bangs fell out of his eyes, revealing a flash of red, but it was gone before anyone could be really sure and with the mist so think, it only further added to the uncertainty.

Kakashi's eye widened in horror at the situation, but he couldn't do anything. Except watch his student be killed.

A clash of steel was heard.

Sasuke was gripping a kunai and was _single-handedly_ blocking Zabuza's huge zanbatou. Sweat dripped down the Uchiha's forehead, but he was still smirking, displaying yet another jump in his skill.

Zabuza's eyes widened. He was putting his full weight behind his sword, and yet - that _Genin_ - was blocking it? With _one kunai_?!

_Either the Uchiha is exceptional, or training in Konoha has gotten tougher... or I'm getting weaker..._

Leaping away, Zabuza thought over the matter. Originally, he was going to attack the Jonin, deeming him the greatest threat, and then slowly finish off the Genin. After that, Tazuna would fall. But now, he was rethinking his strategy. He realized that Uchiha Genin could now be one of his larger threats, as he had just pushed off the zanbatou as though it were something pitiful. _How dare he!_ Zabuza thought. His eyes drifted to the trees. _Haku, you'd better be noting all of this... because that kid is most definitely not normal._

Sasuke smirked. "Are you ready to play now, Zabuza?" he cocked his head challengingly, mocking the nuke-nin into a state of further enragement.

Kakashi wanted to cry out, to say, _Don't! He's one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist! I don't want to lose one of my team on the first C-ranked mission we go on! _But his words stuck in his throat. A part of him felt that Sasuke would be able to handle this.

Sasuke was smirking on the outside, but inwardly he was seething. _How could I have done that? I can't continue this much more. I keep on accidentally giving more and more of my skill away. Kakashi'd better hurry up and help..._

Right after he thought that, Kakashi leapt towards Zabuza with his chakra blade drawn. Zabuza easily blocked it with his huge zanbatou, but Kakashi, who had expected this, took out a kunai and slashed Zabuza's hand, the one that was holding the zanbatou, rendering it useless. Strangely enough, Zabuza laughed. "You think you're so smart, Kakashi, don't you?" To this Kakashi did not reply, but Zabuza grinned. "Too bad for you I can wield my zanbatou with my left hand, as well." Kakashi's one eye widened a fraction, but then resumed its determined look. Zabuza continued, grinning as he slowly pushed the silver-haired Jonin back, inch by inch. "Can you do the same, Kakashi?"

Kakashi's eye widened and he jumped back as Zabuza swung his zanbatou with his left hand. Knowing he could not beat his opponent in taijutsu since that sword would never allow him to get close enough, Kakashi quickly formed some seals and put one of his gloved hands to his mask. Blowing, Kakashi let out a large fire dragon, which roared and twisted as if alive. _Katon: Karyuu Endan!_

Zabuza dodged the dragon with ease, and it crashed into a tree, setting it ablaze. The swordsman was unfazed. In fact, he still kept that odd look of eagerness and cruelty in his eyes. "Is that really all you can do?" he mocked. "I am _so_ disappointed."

Again, Kakashi said nothing. He had expected the Demon of the Mist to dodge the attack, but perhaps not the chakra signature behind him, in the forest. That signature had dodged quickly as well. Kakashi's expression darkened. _There is another Shinobi in the woods. Judging from their speed, I'd say Chunin or even a Jonin._

"You cannot defeat me. Even the elite Jonin of Mist could not defeat me, and they, I believe, are so much more powerful than you _Konoha_ Shinobi."

Kakashi held his chakra blade, which was still glowing a faint white. That attack had taken a considerable amount of chakra, but not too much. He could still fight, and would not show any weaknesses. "Then perhaps, Zabuza," there was no need for any honorific here, "you are underestimating us."

The Konoha Jonin disappeared and reappeared behind Zabuza. He thrust his sword forward, but was blocked by the huge zanbatou. Coursing more chakra into the blade to keep it from cracking in half, Kakashi pressed on, but suddenly dropped to his knees. Zabuza, losing his balance, toppled forward, but stabilized himself in time. Kakashi, though, gave him no time to act.

Sliding behind the missing-nin, the Jonin struck Zabuza on the back of the head and then, using two of his fingers, pressed a pressure point which rendered the swordsman unconcious. _Pitiful. _Kakashi thought. _He obviously underestimated me._

Suddenly, three senbon flew out of the woods on their right side, puncturing his hand that was gripping Zabuza's neck. Startled, Kakashi let go of the man and a hunter-nin appeared. The strange nin lifted Zabuza onto his shoulder and said in a surprisingly cold voice, "You have no place here. I was promised to kill Zabuza, and I shall. He has taken everything away from me, and I want my revenge." The hunter-nin pointed behind them with one free hand. "Go. I wish for my revenge alone."

Casting a suspicious glance at the limp form of the missing-nin, Kakashi turned around and quietly told the frightened Genin, sans an annoyed and slightly relieved_?_ Sasuke and Tazuna, "Let's go." He knew something about this situation didn't add up but his mind was focused on his own team and how a certain someone had been far, far too efficient in this little scuffle.

After the five Konoha Shinobi had left, the missing-nin took off his mask. "The silver-haired one rendered Zabuza-san unconscious," he muttered. "and he will pay for it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Beta-ed by the lovely Jenny-Cat-Miaow. XD**

**Things as they are **

**Chapter 5**

"And here," Tazuna motioned grandly, "Is my house!"

Sasuke resisted the urge to twitch his eyes and rubbed his head. Lately he had been getting massive headaches, and it often shorted his tolerance. Tazuna's house was surprisingly small for the one whose bridge would ultimately save the Wave Country from both poverty and Gatou. In fact, he had seen storage houses bigger than this. But apparently, the man did not think of his domain as small. Sasuke knew, once again, better than the members of his team, just what it was going to be like living with Tazuna.

"Well, just take any ol' room! The ones upstairs will do!"

Sasuke followed Naruto and Sakura up the stairs. _Tomorrow,_ he thought, _We'll train, right? Tree climbing. _He snorted, earning a suspicious glance from Naruto and Sakura. _That's just a waste of my time and right now, with this damned headache I don't even have the patience to pretend that it is._

He dreaded the next day already.

* * *

"You'll all die."

Silence reigned at the dinner table as Inari, Tazuna's grandson, spoke. The three Genin and one Jonin processed the pessimism slowly. Sasuke continued eating his rice, knowing his comment wasn't needed this time. Inari, to him, was a useless, pitiful boy. He had no need to change the boy's views at all. Besides, he wasn't Naruto, no matter the urges he was now feeling to tell the boy off for being such a pessimistic cry baby.

Sakura and Naruto said nothing; Naruto was indifferent to the boy's opinion and Sakura was slightly concerned, but not enough to speak up. Kakashi said nothing; it was hard to determine if the Jonin was pleased or annoyed - after all, most of his face was covered up. Sasuke still had a better idea than most, seeing as he'd spent an entire month with the man, but this Kakashi was different so he supposed he was on the same page as everyone else.

Which reminded Sasuke - why hadn't Kakashi pulled his hitai-ate up and revealed the Sharingan? Did he not have it? Or was Zabuza too weak for him to feel the need to use it? Kakashi had really, almost been toying with the nuke-nin the whole fight. He hadn't ended up in a water prison and he hadn't dropped from exhaustion afterwards. Had the Sharingan always been that taxing? _That's something I'll have to ask him later, _he decided, _In a Naruto-ish way._ He already dreaded it.

"It's useless against Gatou." Sasuke sighed. This kid had his priorities skewed if he thought a mere civilian could stand up to a Shinobi. Even a genin could take Gatou down. What made the man any different was his ability to manipulate those around him into doing his bidding with the promise of money.

_Inari is annoying, _Sasuke thought. _He keeps implying that we are not good enough. That we cannot defeat Gatou. That Wave Country is doomed forever. _He snorted. _At least I want to do something about Itachi. This boy will do nothing. He is nothing, compared to me._

That urge to yell at the kid had grown, so much so that even as he was in his world, he would have reacted to the kid. It didn't help matters that Naruto was so quiet and that Kakashi wasn't even reacting. That headache was also growing and it seemed to be directly related to all the times he ignored the urge to do something Naruto-ish.

He stood up abruptly, slamming his fists onto the table. "So that's it, then. You're just going to give up? Listen, Inari! _Nothing_ will happen if you do _nothing_!" It was strange. _Where did that come from? Why am I doing this? I can't - control - Why - No, don't keep on going - _"At least I'll _do_ something! You might as well just keep on crying, Inari. You _crybaby_!"

He breathed hard from his outburst while the others just stared at him. Sasuke's eyes were wide with confusion and anger, at the same time. _Why did I just do that? That's not... me... is it? _He dashed out the door, his dropped chopsticks clattering on the bowl.

Inari stared after him, an odd expression of shock on his face. He ran upstairs, not answering the concerned calls his mother, Tsunami, gave.

Kakashi stared at the closed door. _So, is this the real Sasuke or not, because, right there, in that moment, he acted more like the genin he should be than the genin he was?_

* * *

Sasuke ran.

He wanted to get away.

Into the forest, into the safety of the trees. Away from this strange and confusing world. Away from the emo Naruto _who never smiled_, away from the obsessive Sakura _who treated him like nothing_, away from the stern Kakashi _who was always on time_.

Away from the curse. Away from the Kyuubi inside of him.

But you couldn't run from that which ran with you. This world, whatever it was, was it changing him? He was still him, wasn't he? He still hated orange and despised ramen. He still wanted to clobber Naruto … only now, he wanted to do it because he was too quiet, too moody.

_Why did I do that? Why did I just lose my emotions like that - How could... I'm not really like that, am I? Is seeing my teammates again affecting my views? Have I really gone insane? _He rubbed his temples, confused. His words rang in his mind.

_"You're just going to give up?" _He swallowed.

_"Listen up, Inari! _Nothing _will happen if you do _nothing_!" _Exclamation points? Since when had he ever used _exclamation points_? He **never** showed more emotion that slight annoyance.

No. That wasn't him, was it? That was not Uchiha Sasuke, the one specially trained by Orochimaru. That was the Naruto-ish Sasuke -

_Naruto-ish._

That was it. His eyes widened in realization.

_Naruto-ish._

He was merging with the Sasuke of this world.

It explained the recent headaches, after all. Their interests were merging and so were their attitudes, thoughts, etcetera.

Wait. Interests.

Orange.

_Neon_ orange.

That was _so_ not fair. Sasuke tried to imagine the colour, and found - much to his horror - that it did not seem as bad a colour as he had originally thought. _I am _not _going to wear orange. Ne, I'll look like a Halloween trick-or-treater. _He stopped. _Ne. Since when did I start saying 'ne?'_

He kicked at a rock on the ground. This was not helping him. How the hell did he stop this? He had to remain true to who he was or else who knew how bad this could get. Were his skills going to deteriorate?

Kick, kick.

"Sasuke."

Kakashi. Someone he really did not want to see right now. That lone eye would be too serious, too blunt. This was not _his_ Kakashi. Sasuke turned his head to look at his sensei, that wasn't _his_ sensei. The Jonin stared back with unblinking eyes and stated, "Quite a show you put on back there."

"Hn."

"You've been acting strangely since you left the Academy."

"And?"

"Iruka-san says you passed the exam with flying colours."

"Do you want me to comment? I did well, so what? Why is this suddenly a problem? Besides, bunshin is a laughable jutsu."

"You asked the Hokage to switch you to my team."

"And? I thought I'd already explained this. You are the Jonin sensei best suited to my skills."

_He's being strangely defensive,_ Kakashi mused. _I know of one more question to ask._ "You stopped Zabuza's zanbatou with one kunai."

"So? I've been training -"

But he never finished. Sasuke suddenly felt himself slammed against a tree. For a moment, the air was knocked out of him and he couldn't breathe. Kakashi's hand was over his neck and in the Jonin's other hand was a razor-sharp kunai, pressed onto his jugular. "What is it, Kakashi?" Sasuke stated calmly, trying not to lose his cool facade. He had no idea what this Kakashi was capable of. At first, he'd deluded himself into believing that being on Team 7 would be just like before, but it wasn't. This wasn't his world and this wasn't his team.

The Jonin's onyx eye flashed. "Address me as Kakashi-sensei. I am your superior."

Sasuke wanted to snort at the irony - the Kakashi in the other world had allowed him to call him that - but realized it would be useless to resist. Besides, why call the man sensei when he was holding a kunai to his throat? Clearly the man was suspicious about him being his student. However, as much as he hated to admit it, Kakashi - even the lazy one - was stronger than he was… _currently_. This body was still not where he was previously and he'd only been doing so well because of the little tricks he already knew and his knowledge on chakra control. "Fine, _Kakashi-sensei_. What is it?"

"You are not Sasuke."

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow mockingly. "What, you're doubting your vision now? Aren't I right in front of you?"

Kakashi spoke and with every accusation, Sasuke added his own mental reply, knowing that verbalising it would only make it worse. "You passed the exam with flying colours. (_What was wrong with a little skill? Honestly, you'd think they wanted him to fail?_) You asked the Hokage to switch the teams. (_And he'd given a perfectly logical explanation for it._) You no longer have a crush on Sakura. (_Who would with the way she treated him?_) You have not tried to prove yourself to Naruto. (_No point, I'm already stronger than him and he knows it._) You mentioned something about the future while talking to my sensei. (_Huh? I did? All I asked was to be on your team. Then again you hadn't given the test to your team yet._) You outran the Hokage's personal ANBU.(_Again, really wasn't all that hard. Besides they were underestimating me._) You performed a move that should not be possible, in my test. (_Well his test wasn't all that special Sasuke thought moodily. Arrogant wasn't he?_) You single-handedly blocked Zabuza's zanbanto. (_Okay, that one was justified._) I have reasons as to why I think you are not Sasuke, the dead last of the Academy. (_Well duh._)"

_Still … Darn... How will I explain myself out of this one?_

* * *

_I know it's in here somewhere, _Minato rummaged through various objects Sarutobi had gotten over his Hokage years. He pulled out a stuffed fox and stared at it. _Huh, didn't know Sarutobi liked foxes…But it sure is cute._ He set it aside. _Maybe I can give that to Naruto when he comes back – but he doesn't really like foxes… How about Sasuke-kun? That reminds me. I have a job to get done._

He blew some dust bunnies out of the way. _I suppose Sarutobi didn't really go through these often. It's really amazing how much he has._

Minato stuck his hand in the huge drawer, sifting around for any spherical item. Mentally, he sighed; he knew he would have to clean his hands and his coat off later. And he had just washed it, too. His fingers brushed against glass.

_Aha! I found it…_

He pulled out a large transparent ball which was connected to a painted wooden stand. This crystal ball was really quite handy and somewhat scary all things considered. Where the heck had the Sandaime gotten it? Wiping the crystal clean with his sleeve (and mentally sighing again), Minato channelled some chakra into it. _That should do it…_

_Now, show me Naruto._

The ball whirred to life, colours dancing around inside. Then, they stopped. It was a fuzzy picture, and this crystal ball was admittedly not the best one he'd seen, but it was enough. It showed Naruto eating dinner silently, his usual emotionless facade set on his face. Minato felt both relieved and disappointed; Naruto, his son, was safe, but apparently his behaviour had made no change. He had hoped that having Kakashi-kun as his jonin sensei would make him a little happier.

_I can meet up with him when he comes back. Now, show me Sakura._

He did not know the pink-haired girl personally, only that she was a rabid fan of his son's, but took some slight interest in her. Minato had heard she was at the top of her grade in the intelligence department, though often her intelligence escaped her around Naruto. Sakura appeared to be in the same room with Naruto, and also sullenly eating her dinner. Why so morbid?

_Next, Sasuke-kun. He's been acting strangely; I wonder if he's back to normal now._

The crystal ball seemed to shiver for a moment, then the colours began dancing again. Minato's eyes widened in shock. Sasuke was being pressed against a tree, a hand firmly gripping his neck and a kunai to his throat. He was saying something, but the Yondaime's mind couldn't register the words. _That is Kakashi's glove. Kakashi – or someone wearing his glove – is threatening Sasuke-kun._

_Show me Kakashi! Now, ball!_

Again, the colours whirred; this time, it seemed as if Kakashi was holding someone up by the neck. Minato could see the handle of a kunai in his hand. _No… it can't be…_

_Show me Sasuke-kun and Kakashi. Please, don't let it be so…_

The ball's colours shifted. To Minato's horror, Kakashi was holding Sasuke up by the neck and had a kunai pressed against his jugular, confirming what he'd known to be true anyways.

His jugular. It was pressed against his jugular, which could only mean one thing.

Kakashi was prepared to kill at a moment's notice.

_No… Kakashi-kun wouldn't do this… He doesn't hate the Kyuubi no Gaki. Does he? I didn't think he was biased against Sasuke-kun due to his Jinchuriki status. Would he really… kill Sasuke-kun?_

_Enhance hearing. Now._

"… Kakashi. I am your superior."

_What could that mean? That tells me nothing!_

"Fine, _Kakashi-sensei_. What is it?"

_That is not Sasuke-kun's voice… It is too cruel, impatient, too… well, as much as I hate to admit it, too Naruto-ish._

"You are not Sasuke."

Minato breathed out in relief. So Kakashi-kun was not going to kill the boy because of the Kyuubi; simply, his old student was suspicious. And when his old student was suspicious, he usually got his answers. Meaning, Sasuke would not be killed … at least until Kakashi-kun got his answers.

"… I have my reasons as to why I think you are not Sasuke, the dead last of the Academy."

His ears perked up.

Minato watched the scene in the glass ball with interest and worry. Though he was confident (fine, admittedly _fairly_ confident) that there would be no bloodshed, Kakashi still had his kunai over the boy's jugular vein and was not displaying any intention of removing it anytime soon.

"Hokage-sama?"

"Aahh!"

Surprised, Minato dropped the crystal ball and it crashed into the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. He and the unfortunate secretary who had just entered the room stared at the pieces on the floor as though suddenly struck stupid and were trying to process the sight of the broken crystal. Such a crucial moment . . . T_T

"Akito-san..." Minato stated in a perfectly even voice.

"... Hokage-sama?"

"Next time... _knock_... will you?" Would that have even made it better?

"Gomen! Gomen! I didn't mean to, Hokage-sama - _aahh_!"

Minato spent the rest of the evening chasing one unlucky chuunin. Someone was getting demoted.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously, but he suppressed his urge to torture, maim, and kill Kakashi right there and then. He resisted the urge to bite his lip in agitation. "Why don't you put me down first, Kakashi-_sensei_?"

Kakashi's coal eye narrowed. "You could be a spy, for all I know. How can I trust you?"

Sasuke cocked his head. "I'm not answering until you put me down. Besides, don't you have more faith in your own abilities?"

"And I won't put you down until you answer me." Seemed he wasn't going to answer the question about his abilities. ANBU were a bitch in these types of situations.

Thus began a war of stares.

Onyx eyes bore into a coal black eye, and neither person seemed to relent. Each's eyes were stony hard, glittering with determination and silent fury. The night seemed to chill dramatically; only the echoing howl of the wind filled their ears.

It seemed for a moment that the Sharingan would flash in Sasuke's eyes. A pressure had formed behind his pupils, though he was desperately trying not to let it surface. It wouldn't do to give Kakashi another question to ask. So far he'd managed to keep the Sharingan hidden and he wanted to keep it that way.

He could feel the Jonin's fingers digging into his flesh. The cool nails pressed into his neck, feel the rough almost denim like material against the sensitive skin and felt the urge to claw it off, felt the heat of Kakashi's skin against his own and he suddenly found it hard to breathe. He couldn't swallow, he could barely breathe -

"Fine, I'll tell you." _Not everything, though._

Kakashi cocked his head. "Go on." His voice was still as cold as ice, though Sasuke could tell - by the lessening of the lines on the side of his eye - he was pleased. He thought he'd won.

"It all started with the Kyuubi..." _No, it didn't,_ said a voice in Sasuke's head; but he pushed that thought aside.

"... I first heard a voice in my head the day before the Graduating Exam..." _It wasn't a voice at all._

"... and it was the Kyuubi. He told me about the sealing..." _You've never met the Kyuubi._

"... and because of this, I started to act differently. I mean there was a strange voice in my head, an angry voice of pure hatred. Who wouldn't act a little different after something like that informed them that their whole life had been a lie." _It was never that._

"I never told the Yondaime because I thought he would be angry... I don't even want him to be angry with me. He's one of the only people that actually likes me." _Yondaime has never gotten angry at you._

"So I kept it a secret. What else could I do? He already knew about the Kyuubi, everyone did. So it wasn't like I was keeping things to myself."

Sasuke was perfectly aware that this explanation did not match with the one he had given the Yondaime but it appeared that Kakashi had not been informed of his previous explanation. He was also aware this this explanation did not explain an increase in skill, just a change in attitude.

Kakashi's grip did not falter throughout the whole explanation, and for a moment Sasuke thought the Jonin would not release him at all. But he felt the icy grip on his neck loosen and he fell to the ground, weak from the lack of oxygen. "I'll believe your story for now, Sasuke." Kakashi said, "Not a word to the others about this, do you hear?" Sasuke nodded. He wouldn't have told the others, anyway. It's not like it would've made a different to them anyway. He would still be Sasuke the dobe.

"Sensei?"

Sakura stood at the edge of the forest, uncertain as to what was happening. For once, she was concerned about her other teammate. Naruto stood close by her, but not too close. He had his arms crossed over his chest in an obviously displeased way. They had just seen their sensei release Sasuke, and now had their doubts as to whose side their Jonin was on.

Kakashi's expression calmed and Sasuke tilted his head to the side. Did this Kakashi care more than what he let on? Did he actually care about what they thought? "Sakura, it's fine. We were just having a little talk." He glanced at Sasuke, who was still kneeling on the ground.

Naruto snorted. "Sure, and the dobe's gasping for breath just for the fun of it." His sapphire eyes flashed. "What were you two talking about?" _Obviously something important for it to end this way..._

Sasuke stood up with a scowl. "Nothing. We were talking about nothing. Besides, I let Kakashi-_sensei_ slam me against a tree. Made his ego feel better."

The Jonin glared at Sasuke. A glare that promised great bodily harm yet he did not act out again, at least not with the other two there.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura hesitated before continuing, "Secrets shouldn't be kept from teammates, right? Why can't you tell us?"

The silver-haired shrugged in what would seem like a careless manner. "It was nothing. S-classed secret. Absolutely nothing..."

"S-classed secret? _Nani_?" Sakura exclaimed indignantly. "If it's that important, you have to tell us!" Even Naruto looked interested.

Sasuke shook his head. "Baka," he said, "If it's S-classed, it means you have no clearance to hear it."

"But neither do you!"

"Idiots," they glared at the insult and Sasuke felt a twinge of guilt. Here they were, showing some concern for him and he was insulting them, "Didn't you think it might _include_ me?"

Sakura frowned, turning to their sensei. "Kakashi-sensei, why would an S-classed secret include _him_?" Her nose wrinkled in disgust. Ah, there was the reason he shouldn't feel guilty for insulting them. Naruto narrowed his eyes, clearly echoing the same views.

"It doesn't matter, and anyway, we should head back to Tazuna-san's house. We're supposed to be protecting him and out here we're doing a rather poor job of it." Kakashi's statement left no room for arguments, and Team 7 walked back to the house, though Sakura and Naruto kept on giving Sasuke strange glances.

Sasuke was in a foul mood; he had just had an argument with all three of his teammates. How was he supposed to make bonds, again? This new Kakashi was also a fricken headache. He was too much like Sasuke. People said opposites attract and if that was the case they had three fricken negatives on the same team, all of them repelling the other. This wasn't going to work out unless one of them became the positive that attracted the negative.

But that had always been Naruto, not Sasuke. He had to make a choice here. Keep this up and possibly lose his team, again, or make the conscious effort to keep them around. But that just wasn't him. He wasn't Naruto. He was just as much of a negative as they were. So where did that leave him?

* * *

-the next day-

"We're going to learn how to do tree climbing." Kakashi's voice rang over the clearing, the only background sounds bird calls and rustling leaves.

"But sensei," Sakura protested, "We already know how to climb trees!"

Naruto nodded. "We can already climb trees."

"That may be so," Kakashi shrugged, "but do you know how to without using your hands?"

Sasuke snorted, rolling his eyes. Kakashi took notice of this, and, irritation getting the better of him, asked, "Well, since Sasuke here already knows how to do this exercise, let's watch _him_ climb the tree."

Naruto and Sakura were glowering at Sasuke, and he smirked. "Hai." And with that, he began to walk up the tree with ease.

_This is great,_ Sasuke thought. _I don't have to hide my abilities anymore - excluding the Hebi's own jutsu - because I can blame it on the fox._ He smirked. _I guess that was good for something. Still, anyone smarter or more knowledgeable about bijus would know that they don't give sudden boosts in skill, not like my supposed ones at any rate._

"Nani!" Sakura pointed indignantly at the Uchiha. "How can you possibly know that?! You are the dead last of the Academy! How do you know that?!"

"Yeah, dobe," Naruto narrowed his eyes, "How do you know that exercise already?" Naruto especially had taken to watching him very closely since the previous night, as though with enough observation he could learn what Sasuke's S-class secret was.

Sasuke smirked. "Be careful of who you call _dobe_, teme," he reached the highest sturdy branch, " 'Cause unless you improve drastically, _I'll_ have to start calling _you_ that." He swung, upside down, on the branch, enjoying the looks the other two Genin were giving him.

Kakashi crossed his arms. "Since Sasuke already knows it, I'll have to move him onto a different exercise. Meanwhile, you two try it. Focus chakra onto the soles of your feet to stick onto the tree. Use a kunai to mark your progress. Too much chakra and you'll only be repelled off of the tree, too little and it won't stick." He glanced at the upside down Uchiha. "And you, Sasuke, follow me."

Sasuke ran down the tree with ease; it was much easier to go with gravity than to go against. "Hai, Kakashi-_sensei_." Every time he addressed the Jonin after that little conversation the night before, he added a special emphasise to the sensei part, giving the impression that he was silently mocking the Jonin. The two Shinobi left the clearing and the two Genin with Kakashi giving Sasuke a glare.

"So," Sakura started, "I guess it's just you and me, Naruto-kun?" She smiled sweetly.

Naruto's expression darkened, and he turned to a tree. Focusing his chakra to the soles of his feet, like his sensei had said, he ran towards the tree. Twenty feet or so up the tree, he gave it a slash with his kunai and back flipped off of it, realizing his feet were quickly losing hold on the tree. _I will not be second to that loser!_ He thought angrily. _How come he is so advanced already? I'm supposed to be better than him!_

"Hey, Naruto-kun!"

He turned around, eyes widening at the sight. Sakura sat on the highest branch in her tree already. She waved to him. "I already got to the top! How about you?"

He did not reply, instead turning his back to her and smashing his fist against his tree, muttering every profanity he could possibly think of.

* * *

"So, Sasuke," Kakashi started, turning around to face the boy when they had gotten to a pond. "I take it then, you already know this exercise, too?"

"Water walking?" Sasuke asked. He smirked. "Of course."

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "I see," he muttered. "Well then," he took out a kunai and tossed it up and down. "I have to re-evaluate you." He caught the kunai and slid into an offensive stance. "Fight me."

Sasuke snorted. "A Jonin against a Genin? How unfair." But he slid into an offensive stance as well - not the Dance of the Snake, though. That stance was practically _outlawed_ in Konoha, because of its infamous creator. He may agree to show Kakashi some of his skill, but he wouldn't show all of it. Besides, half of his arsenal of tricks would garner far too many questions.

"Perhaps so," Kakashi said lightly, "but we are not going for blood. I'm only evaluating you."

"Sometimes there is no difference between the two."

"To some people, but I am not one of those people." Yeah right. Sasuke had steadily been pissing the man off ever since he'd passed them and made them his genin team. This was going to be an official way of taking out those frustrations on the genin.

Sasuke had no answer for this, so he took out a kunai as well. His feet were far apart, and his knees were roughly on the same level, though he had his weight on the front one for offensive purposes. One of his hands was in front of him, palm down, while the other was in front of his chest, vertical.

Kakashi narrowed his eye; that stance... where had he seen that stance before? He couldn't remember. Kakashi shrugged it off; that stance, whatever it was, would do no good against his stance. His stance was almost like the Hyuuga's Jyuuken stance. He could quickly strike unprotected places, causing the opponent to lose their balance. That stance was only good for blocking fists and kicks. Though... when he had seen that stance before, the forward hand was also vertical like the hand in front of the chest. Sasuke's forward hand was palm down, a variation which Kakashi had not seen before.

But the last thing he would do was underestimate his opponent.

Sasuke cocked his head confidently. "Let's begin."

So they did.

Kakashi's and Sasuke's bodies blurred. Kakashi quickly threw some jabs with his hands, trying to catch Sasuke off balance, but found it was harder than he had imagined. Sasuke began to block the short thrusts with his open hand, and with his palm-down hand he began to push away the attacks. Then, Sasuke grabbed Kakashi's wrist with his left hand and dealt an open-handed blow to Kakashi's chest, though it did not do as much damage as it would have; the Chunin vest was too thick for the blow to actually hurt the Jonin.

But the fact remained, Sasuke had managed to land a blow.

Startled for a moment, Kakashi stumbled back, and Sasuke left no time for him to recover. The Uchiha roundhouse kicked at Kakashi's face, but the Jonin caught his oncoming ankle and used the momentum to throw Sasuke into the pond.

Kakashi was starting to see where Obito's observations were coming from. That kick had been a sloppy attempt at the Uchiha style while the blow he'd landed previously had been somewhat what Kakashi would have done. He also seemed to almost be aware of Kakashi's fighting style already, blocking and countering moves almost on instinct.

Having no time to focus chakra to his body, Sasuke plunged underneath the icy water. Kakashi watched a few bubbles float to the surface and grinned mentally. This boy was actually a challenge to him. Interesting.

But this was only taijutsu, and the silver-haired Shinobi wondered how Sasuke would deal with ninjutsu.

Suddenly, Kakashi heard a roar, and was on his toes in an instant. A huge dragon leaped out of the water, twisting and roaring as if actually alive. It reached a height of roughly fifty feet before descending. Kakashi managed to jump out of the way before it crashed into the ground, flooding the clearing around the pond. He covered his eye with his hand, shielding it from the stinging water.

Sasuke surfaced the pond, gasping for breath. He climbed onto the surface of the water and smirked. Kakashi squinted; there was something in his hand. _No, wrapped... wrapped? Wire! Chakra wire... leading to... where the dragon had struck?_

Kakashi's eye widened. There had been weapons in hidden in the dragon's body, and those weapons had chakra wire attached to them! He leaped away, jumping into a tree.

Sasuke pulled on the chakra wire and saw the weapons move. _Now, if I could only get this to work..._ He began to swing the attached weapons around using the wire, much like one would swing a slingshot.

Kakashi narrowed his eye; He needed to get that "slingshot" out of Sasuke's hands. It seemed as if the boy was capable enough of using the chakra wire to actually hurt him. He leaped out of the tree, high enough so that Sasuke could not reach him with the weapons, and crashed... right _onto_ Sasuke.

_Expect the unexpected, Sasuke. _

"Itai!" Sasuke grunted as Kakashi brought his full weight onto him. Grasping the chakra wire, Kakashi pulled it out of the Uchiha's hands, and threw it a good twenty feet away.

Then, launching into taijutsu, Kakashi began to mercilessly attack the boy. Sasuke had no time to act; he had to get into his stance, but the Jonin obviously had no intention of ever letting him do so. Sasuke could have easily defended with the Dance of the Snake taijutsu but that was something he could not do if he wished to continue breathing. So this fight was taking far more concentration on his part than what it should've, considering he had to make a conscious effort to not use moves that were ingrained into his automatic responses. Which was why his Uchiha style was so damn sloppy.

Finally, a hard, direct upper kick to the jaw sent Sasuke flying. The boy crash landed onto the shore, and Kakashi walked to his side. He was unconscious. Well that was unexpected. Sasuke hadn't been in this fight physically, like he was thinking too much. Kakashi sighed in frustration, having hoped to push the boy into revealing his true strength but had had no such luck.

Kakashi allowed himself a small smile as he picked the boy up however, noticing how wet Sasuke was from landing in the pond earlier. This boy was interesting... He would have to ask Minato-sensei about it later. And was definitely more skilled then what he wanted them to believe, even taking into account all his little slip ups.

* * *

"Aaargh!" Naruto kicked at the tree, clearly frustrated. It was already dark! Why couldn't he get this exercise? He had made little to no progress at all.

Sakura tried to calm him down. "Naruto-kun," she started, "maybe if you would let me help..."

Naruto sighed. He hated this! He hated this stupid exercise and that arrogant dobe! But, he would never get done unless he asked for Sakura's help... "Fine. What do I need to do?"

Sakura grinned. Her love was asking her for help! It was a dream come true! Wait until Ino-pig hears about this, she thought. "Well, first you need to concentrate. Is there anything irrelevant to this exercise that you're thinking of right now?"

"Kakashi. The dobe."

"Maybe if you stopped thinking about them, it would help..."

He snorted, but accepted her advice. After all, he didn't have anyone else's advice to follow. A small voice reminded him that he actually didn't know how long it had taken the dobe to learn this, but then again, that was irrelevant, the dobe knew it already and that was all that mattered. _Don't think about them, don't think about them..._

He started running again, focusing his chakra to the soles of his feet, and began his ascent. Almost there, almost there, almost there - no, his feet were losing their stick - he couldn't - he was - falling –

"AARRGGHH!"

* * *

"Here you go," Tsunami smiled gently and placed a bowl of rice and a variety of vegetables in front of Sasuke. "I know it's not much, but please enjoy anyway." Sasuke, before coming here, had debated the merits of actually bringing his own food, knowing just how little they had. But there were some cases were helping was only making things worse. Tazuna and his daughter would have been offended if he'd done that, so he hadn't.

"It doesn't matter," he shrugged, picking up his chopsticks. The bowl of food wasn't much, but he was used to hunger from Orochimaru's hideout. Besides, after waking up from unconsciousness after a fight with a Jonin, anything would be fine. He nibbled at the rice experimentally, then began to hungrily shove food into his mouth.

Kakashi watched him with mild amusement, though he supposed the boy deserved it. After all, he had held his ground in their spar and it had only been Kakashi's relentlessness that had prevented him from actually getting any to any sort of effective defensive stance. Who know where that spar would've gone if not for that. The Jonin's eyes narrowed. He would have to keep a closer eye on his student...

The door swung open with a bang, revealing a battered Naruto and exhausted Sakura. The pink-haired girl was leaning on the blond, much to his discomfort. Both of them trudged to the table, sitting down in the only two empty chairs left.

Sasuke stared at Naruto impassively, and the blond stared back just as impassively. A smirk crept up the Uchiha's face. He knew what was going to happen here and for some reason, he did not want to avoid it in the slightest. Sakura and Kakashi watched the two boys carefully, unsure as to if they should act or not.

Suddenly, both boys took up their chopsticks and began to hungrily shove food into their mouths. Sakura was disgusted, while Kakashi was amused. _Boys,_ they both thought.

Abruptly the two boys stopped eating, each turning a shade of pale green. Both of them leaned over the side and emptied the contents of their stomach out.

_Some things never change,_ Sasuke thought dryly as he vomited, mentally cringing at the amount of work he had to do now before he could go to bed.

* * *

As soon as Sasuke stepped foot onto the unfinished bridge, he knew - and was fairly sure Kakashi-_sensei_ knew as well - that something was wrong. It was a sort of sixth sense among experienced Shinobi: the ability to more or less be able to tell if something was wrong. And at the moment, he could almost imagine red lights blaring all over the place.

He sniffed the air; what was that smell? It was familiar, definitely. In fact, it reminded him of Orochimaru's lab, but that room had held only strange liquids, various metal instruments, and dead bodies.

Sasuke froze. Dead bodies?

That was right. It fit in with his list of "Wave Country memories." Last time, he, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei (he noted mentally how addressing the Jonin as that seemed oddly fitting, and he didn't seem to be placing as much emphasis on the word, but shrugged it off as an influence from the Naruto-ish Sasuke) had arrived to see Tazuna's workers dead. After that, the fight against Zabuza and - Heiko? Hako? What was the boy's name again?

He frowned. That boy - whatever his name was - had beaten him, no doubt. Sasuke had awakened the Sharingan, yes, but other than that, he had been utterly humiliated; the dobe had beaten the boy instead.

It was not one of his proudest memories.

But this time he could change it, because he _knew_ what was going to happen.

The oh-so familiar mist began shrouding the bridge and the dead workers. Tazuna gave an exclamation of terror, immediately cowering behind his hired Shinobi, and said Shinobi rolled their eyes. Kakashi stood boldly, staring into the mist. Sakura seemed unsure of herself; she had had only a little time to sharpen her kunoichi skills. Naruto was still at Tazuna's house; they had not been able to wake him up, so they had left him and he was going to be pissed for it.

Now Sasuke had begun to regret leaving him, this he could handle, but a pissed off dobe was not something he really wanted to deal with.

He gritted his teeth; this tense silence was beginning to get on his nerves. Kakashi-sensei was doing nothing but standing there, and Sakura was shivering with fright and cold.

"So, the Second White Fang has arrived... Shall we play, Kakashi?" Zabuza's voice rang out from every direction.

Sakura froze, and glanced at her teacher, who seemed calm at the voice. _I thought the man was dead! What - why -_

"Indeed," Kakashi's eyes flashed with the prospect of a challenge. He unsheathed his chakra blade.

As soon as he had done that, eight Zabuza clones had appeared and surrounded the group. Tazuna shrieked, terrified, but Kakashi looked unfazed. The Jonin's eye flashed. "Sasuke," he said, addressing the boy. He spoke only one command: "Go wild."

Sasuke's onyx eyes flashed red, with three tomoes spinning wildly, but Kakashi wasn't looking at him to see. He grinned maniacally, and in a split second, all of the Zabuza mizu clones had collapsed into water. Sakura gaped openly; it seemed as if Sasuke had not moved at all. She took a quick glance at the supposed "dead last" and was shocked to see that he did not look tired at all. _Just who is Sasuke, anyway?_ she wondered, confused.

_Impressive, _thought Zabuza, _but he will never be a match for Haku_. "Haku."

_So that was the boy's name,_ Sasuke remembered. It seemed to fit with his other bridge memories, not that it mattered.

"Hai, Zabuza-sama?" A masked boy appeared next to his master.

Through the mist, Sakura and the others could see a faint outline of Zabuza and the hunter-nin who had appeared at their last encounter. Her eyes widened. "Isn't that the Shinobi who was supposed to kill Zabuza?" Sometimes, Sasuke found himself wondering why Sakura was the smartest in their year if this was how she reacted to these types of situations. He wondered if she'd gotten better over the years. But she was still a far cry better than Naruto had ever been, is Naruto anyway, the way he himself was supposed to be in this world.

It was not Kakashi but Sasuke who answered. "The hunter-nin has been on Zabuza's side the whole time."

Sakura turned towards her teacher, a silent doubt in her eyes, but he answered, "Sasuke's right, Sakura. The masked boy has always been on Zabuza's side."

She turned back to Zabuza and the other Shinobi - whatever his name was - with her eyes slightly widened. It would be her first real fight, and quite honestly, she wasn't particularly eager to engage in battle. Sakura gulped, a feeling of great dread in her stomach.

"Why did we let them go then?" Sakura squeaked out.

"At the time it had only been a hunch and I was nearing chakra exhaustion. A Shinobi who poses as a hunter-nin should have a hunter-nin's skills." Kakashi replied, eyes taking in Haku and remembering the speed with which he dodged the attack.

Sasuke smirked.

Sakura glared at her teammate. How could he be so calm at a time like this? Two missing-nin were facing them, one infamous in the Shinobi world and the other a hunter-nin! And he was _smirking_?!

Sasuke ignored his pink-haired teammate, his Sharingan eyes instead focused on Haku. The masked boy made no implication that he had noticed the Uchiha, but with the mask on it was impossible to tell. His voice was young, though hollow. "Zabuza-san... I will be quick with this one."

Immediately Sasuke and Haku rushed forward, engaging in a battle of quick taijutsu. It was hardly a real battle; the two opponents were only gauging their enemy's skill. Neither seemed to be getting the advantage.

Suddenly, Haku thrust his hand forward, and the puddle they were fighting on began to quiver. Sasuke jumped back, his feet no longer touching the puddle - he remembered the other's kekkei genkai; ice manipulation.

A split second after Sasuke had retreated, icy spikes flew out of the water, aimed for him, but he dodged easily. _They don't seem as fast as I remember,_ he thought, _but then again, _one of his trademark smirks came over his face, _I'm not as slow as I was._

He expertly caught the three senbon Haku threw in between his fingers, twisting his hand around and then tossing them aside. Neither of them attacked for the next few moments. Sasuke gritted his teeth, thinking, _I wish I had had more time to branch out on opponents at the Hebi's. There are little to no ice-type Shinobi in Sound because this boy had been the last one with this much skill. Orochimaru is only interested in skill. I can only rely on my memory, and yet I can't, because things may be different here -_

His thoughts were cut off by a cascade of more senbon, but this time aimed for his feet to lower his speed. Sasuke jumped back, and the needles landed in perfect symmetry at his feet, lined up neatly in a long row. He ignored the queasy feeling in his stomach, and ran towards Haku with all of his speed. The masked boy seemed surprised, by his movements - or lack thereof. It seemed as if the hunter-nin had not expected the Uchiha to resort to close-range attacks.

Sasuke slammed his foot into Haku's stomach, and the shocked boy stumbled back a few feet. Giving him no time to recover, the Uchiha appeared behind Haku and kicked again, this time at the upper back. Haku crumpled to the ground as a result of the combination of attacks. _That taijutsu..._ he thought. _It was stronger than usual. Those blows... had chakra in them? He's supposed to be a genin! Then again he had stopped Zabuza-sama's blade…_

_Forgive me, Zabuza-sama... I will have to use that jutsu early._

"Hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou!"

* * *

Sakura watched in horror as a ring of large, reflective ice mirrors formed around Sasuke. She was not particularly close to the boy, but he was her teammate, and she could only feel the fear that was edging in on her. "Sasuke! Get out of there!" she yelled, but both of the Genin knew it was hopeless. The mirrors had already surrounded Sasuke completely, leaving no room for escape.

Sakura could only stare, terrified of what could happen next. But for some reason, Sasuke hadn't really seemed as concerned about his fate as he should've been.

* * *

Sasuke gritted his teeth. How could he have forgotten about Haku's Demonic Ice Mirrors? That was the central part of the fight! He shouldn't have let that boy get the chance to perform this move.

Now, the chances of him winning were lessening with each passing moment.

"I am sorry, but I will kill my heart if I must." Haku's voice echoed, seeming less human than before.

That voice. Those words. It was as if they had come out of his dreams, or memories. Sasuke didn't remember exactly, but - _somehow_, they seemed familiar. He ignored the growing butterflies in his stomach, surprising Haku with one of his trademark smirks. "That's okay, it won't matter either way."

Haku smiled behind his mask. _This one... he is strong._ "I will regret killing you."

Sasuke's confident smirk did not falter. "That is, if you can."

The masked boy did not reply, but instead took one step backwards into a large ice mirror. Now, he was simply an image in a mirror. He stared at the other, who showed no change in expression. _Strange..._

Sasuke closed his eyes, then opened them, revealing the crimson red Sharingan, that he had deactivated during the spar seeing as Kakashi's attention had been focused on them.

_So... he is of_ that _clan_, Haku thought. He began to leap from mirror to mirror, in hopes that this would confuse his opponent - though he knew it was a vain attempt at trying to confuse a Sharingan user with speed.

Sasuke's smirk disappeared as he focused in on the blur that was Haku. It wasn't as difficult as some of the opponents he had fought, that was for sure. But he needed to defeat Haku in a way that seemed accidental, just in case Kakashi was watching. _After all... I don't need him on my case for this, now do I?_

Suddenly, Sasuke felt a sharp pain in his right forearm. It had been struck with a few senbon. Immediately he felt stupid, and mentally berated himself for not paying attention.

He swore. Those senbon were so _annoying_. Only this time, he was faster than last then when he had to fight against them before.

* * *

"Where are the others?" Naruto asked Tsunami, who was washing some dishes. She stopped humming.

"Oh, they left for the bridge already." she replied with a smile. "Kakashi-san wanted you to have some rest today; after all, you were training very hard yesterday."

Naruto scowled. It was always him. _Always_ the one left out, _always_ the one idolized but never known, _always_ known as _his son._ It must have been Kakashi's and that Sasuke's work. They were always scheming, sharing looks that said they knew something the others did not. He knew there was another reason Sasuke was on this team and it wasn't because he had a crush on Sakura or that he wanted Kakashi as a sensei. Kakashi's reputation as the Jonin with the most failed teams under his belt had not gone unnoticed by him and if Sasuke was half as good as Naruto thought he was, Sasuke knew this as well. There was something much deeper going on here. "So, they're on the bridge."

"Mm-hm." Tsunami nodded in assent.

He walked out the door. "I'll be back later." As soon as he had exited the house, he began to sprint as fast as he could towards the bridge.

_That dobe's not going to get all of the glory!_

* * *

Kakashi frowned as large ice mirrors rose out of the water and surrounded his student. He was concerned; that jutsu was very dangerous, by what he could tell, and would be too difficult for a Genin to defeat. _But,_ he smiled to himself, _Sasuke is no ordinary Genin, by what he did against me in our little spar. _So he was only concerned, and not overly worried. He just prayed that he would not come to regret this.

He turned to Zabuza, who was also watching his subordinate fight.

The silver-haired Jonin wanted to attack his opponent right away, without warning, but that would be so _ungentlemanly_, a voice tried to convince him.

_Screw_ consciences and manners.

He drew his sword and lunged at Zabuza, who seemed to not have taken notice of this action. Kakashi was getting closer, and closer -

Until a large zanbatou obscured his view of Zabuza. The two blades clashed and Kakashi and Zabuza faced off in a battle of strengths: who could keep their blade from losing ground?

"I see. You're not going to make it easy for me to kill you, are you?" Zabuza tried to keep his voice even so as not to display weakness, but was surprised to find that it was harder than he had anticipated.

"I am not a fool, Zabuza," Kakashi replied just as evenly. "Besides, I try not to make a habit of being dead."

Zabuza smirked, and at the same moment, both of them jumped back. The two surveyed their opponents; it would be an interesting fight, they both surmised.

And, suddenly, both of them lunged at each other in the most furious of attacks. It was mostly blade-to-blade attacks, though with an occasional chakra thrust here and there. Kakashi held his chakra blade in one hand and used a kunai in the other, while Zabuza held his zanbatou with two hands, putting his full weight behind his attacks.

Zabuza was beginning to get very frustrated; Kakashi was not defending himself from the huge blade but was instead dodging it. On the whole, Zabuza was using far more energy than Kakashi was, not to mention the loss of balance. Having a blade that big was one thing, it was another thing entirely to control the direction of the swings.

_Hmph,_ he thought, _this fight is already pointless by kenjutsu._ He jumped back and raised one hand in the air, and put another hand to the bandages on his face.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

Kakashi had a sinking feeling as his vision suddenly became obscured by mist. What was it with those Mist morons and all their fricken water? Personally, Kakashi liked staying nice and dry but this was not to be as the mist rose up around them and clung to the clothing's fabric, sinking in and making the jonin shiver slight.

_Ah hell_.

* * *

Naruto was jumping through the trees as fast as he could when he saw something strange. He stopped abruptly, and landed in a small clearing.

There was a boar on the ground, mercilessly slaughtered. It was obvious this had been done not by an animal but by a swordsman.

_But why..._

Naruto saw a few more slashes on the trees, each leading closer and closer to -

_Oh._

_Tazuna's house._

Naruto blinked for a few moments, then disappeared in a flash, traveling the way he had just come.

_Geez, they'd better have some pretty skilled enemies. Or it'd be just a waste, coming all this way and turning back..._

* * *

Sasuke breathed heavily. His cold breath chilled his lips, and he closed them immediately, licking his lips in a feeble attempt to warm them up. But he stopped abruptly, choosing instead to put his full concentration on dodging the almost-invisible senbon that were constantly being fired.

He swore silently as he had to dodge another line of senbon. _How many does Haku have, anyway? Maybe he makes them out of ice just to be a jackass about it. _

Though he was fairly sure that he could evade Haku's senbon until the boy ran out, Sasuke was certain things would go exactly the way they had been the last time - which he did not want, considering the fact that Naruto had too much of an ego already - and one of his teammates might be seriously injured. So, that idea was crossed off. He may be faster than he was last time, but he still didn't know how to break the mirrors. He'd been unconscious when Naruto had done it.

Next plan. Direct attack? No, the ice mirrors would reflect any physical attacks done.

_I wonder..._

Sasuke landed in front of the mirror Haku was on, startling the masked boy. Obviously he had not expected Sasuke to stop directly in front of him. Sasuke smirked, and widened his Sharingan eyes, the three tomoe spinning rapidly.

Haku made the deadly mistake of making eye contact.

* * *

Inari watched helplessly as two men threatened his mother. He had never felt more useless in his life. He sniffled, catching the attention of the two Shinobi. Immediately he realized his mistake, and cowered behind the edge of the wall.

One of them laughed. "I spy a little rat." He began to walk towards Inari.

"Don't! If you do, I'll bite my tongue and die!" Tsunami's clearly terrified voice rang out.

The man walking towards Inari froze and turned around to glare at Tsunami, but the other stopped him, saying, "We only need one hostage. Let's go."

"Aww, I wanted to have some blood."

"Leave him."

The man frowned, but left Inari as his peer had told him. The three left the house, walking slowly to torture the boy even more.

Inari watched in silent shock, unsure of what to do or how to respond. He wasn't strong. He wasn't brave. He was a nobody who would only die if he stood up to Gatou and his men.

_"So that's it, then. You're just going to give up? Listen, Inari! __Nothing__ will happen if you do __nothing__! At least I'll __do__ something! You might as well just keep on crying, Inari. You __crybaby__!"_

The Uchiha's words rang loudly in his mind and the boy made a decision.

Inari had to do something. He wasn't going to be useless anymore! He was going to be a hero, like his father!

Dashing to his feet and after the men, Inari opened his mouth and yelled.

"Stop!"

* * *

Suddenly, Haku found himself in a black-and-white world; there were no in between colours, no shades of grey. Simply black or white making everything appear flat, bizarre. It was strange - Haku could not feel his fingers, or the comforting cold of his ice. He could feel nothing in this world except a sense of foreboding. Something was going to happen and there was nothing he could do to defend himself here.

It took him a few moments to fully realize his situation. He was bound to a tall, rough cross about fifteen feet high or so, but he was not sure; it was so hard to tell in this two-coloured world, a world that looked better suited for a cartoon.

For miles and miles in every direction he could twist his head there was nothing in sight. Not a mountain, a river, or even a single blade of grass, just lots and lots of nothing.

Haku glanced down at his body and squinted. What was its colour? It kept on shifting, from black to white to black again and seemingly - yet not seemingly - to every colour in between.

It was all so surreal.

And for the first time in a long time, Haku was scared.

_Really_ scared.

This "Genin," Sasuke, was certainly no Genin at all. He had had his doubts about the status of the boy earlier, when his opponent had dodged his senbon with ease, but now there was no mistake. Frankly, it terrified him to know that this mere twelve-year-old boy was able to fully use an at least Jonin-level genjutsu. He had known of the Sharingan long before he knew of his own Kekkei Genkai, but he did not know the Uchiha clan trained the doujutsu to be so powerful at such a young age. Already there were three black tomoes rapidly swirling in those eyes.

Sasuke, that Genin, appeared in front of him. Or so it appeared; again, the rapidly shifting colours made it hard for Haku to define his surroundings confidentially. The Genin could've been standing there this whole time without Haku realizing it. Perhaps if he spoke, the Haku would finally have a clear understanding of what was going on around him. But there was nothing but those blood red eyes, promising nothing but pain.

Two unblinking crimson orbs, the only colour in the blank world, locked in with Haku's masked brown ones. Neither spoke for some time, until Haku could finally summon enough courage to speak to his captor. "What is this?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Genjutsu." Apparently the other had little intention of revealing its name. Or a sense of humour in leaving the answer vague and somewhat stating the obvious. But it was nice to have it confirmed.

"It can't be. Genjutsu is broken by stopping the chakra flow -"

"Unless the caster is more powerful than the victim."

It took Haku a few seconds to fully comprehend this. A caster more powerful than himself. His fullest ability was Jonin, Zabuza had often commented. Was he not trying his fullest to get out of this? Was he not trying to escape this nightmare, and help his master? A mere boy, with minimum experience, he was sure, was defeating him in genjutsu. The boy was an Uchiha, certainly, but could such a young boy fully utilize a powerful genjutu?

Well, all the hunter-nin need do was look around him and he'd have his answers.

_Apparently so_.

"What are you going to do with me, now that I'm in your power?" _Play along and hope he's not as powerful as he seems,_ Haku told himself, ignoring the fact that he'd had the ball in his court for quite some time and had been messing with the supposed genin until he'd locked Haku in this genjutsu world.

The other boy gave a smirk which made chills run up and down Haku's spine, the hair on the back of his neck rising in alarm as well. "We'll see how long you can last in this genjutsu of mine."

Haku's eyes widened as he was instantly overcome with pain.

* * *

Inari cowered in fear. His conscience was urging him to run away, screaming as it had never done before. _Run!_ it said, _Run! Your tou-san could not resist Gatou's men. What makes you think you can?_

But his kaa-san needed saving, and he, Inari, small as he was, would not run from those two Shinobi. It was high time he did something, anything!

"Leave her alone," he choked, unable to say any more.

One of them laughed. "Really? And what will you do if we don't?"

"Please don't!" Tsunami begged her captors. "If you do, I'll bite my tongue and - "

She was cut off abruptly as one of the Shinobi, clearly annoyed with her threats, struck her on the back of the neck with a swift motion of his hand. He laughed cruelly, earning a shiver from the terrified Inari. "She was becoming a nuisance," he smirked.

Inari stared at them. Now he had no protection. There was no guarantee that the Shinobi would not take him as well, or worse. He started to back up, slowly, but the Shinobi advanced.

Really what had he been thinking? What did he, of all people, think he could ever achieve against men like these?

"You two should really learn to pick on people your own size." A voice suddenly broke the atmosphere, and they turned to see a blond Genin behind them.

"Cocky brat," one of them growled, but the other put a hand on his shoulder. With the other hand he gripped the handle of his wakizashi.

"Leave it. I'll handle the brat. Just take the woman and the boy." He started to advance onto Naruto.

Naruto smirked. "You're too slow." He vanished, shocking the two Shinobi.

Suddenly, they felt the points of kunai at their backs. Both froze.

That Genin's voice was filled with contempt. "Inari, help me bind these two up."

* * *

Kakashi watched the ice mirrors warily as the former sound of senbon hitting ice diminished. He had no idea what happened, but the pit in his stomach was slowly worsening. Pessimistic thoughts crowded his mind, and he tried to push them away, but it was in vain. _They're going to die,_ was the mantra in his head, _they're going to die - their first C-ranked mission, and they're going to die -_

_Can't think of that. Too much of a distraction._

He turned towards his opponent, who seemed not to be afraid for his subordinate. Kakashi narrowed his eye - his strategically mind was already running through the possible fates Sasuke could've had and how to defeat Zabuza now.

How was he going to explain this one to Minato-sensei? Obito was never going to let him live it down. _Oh Kami._ Another person popped into Kakashi's mind and he didn't know whether to abandon his fight with Zabuza and assist Sasuke right there and then or risk it and then face that person's wrath.

A cold laugh echoed in the air, muffled slightly as mist began to fill the bridge again. "It seems as if your subordinate has died, Kakashi. Ah well, no Genin of yours could stand against Haku."

There was no reply; Kakashi had chosen to form a few seals and whisper a jutsu name. Zabuza could see no immediate change in the landscape, and stiffened; it was easy to dodge an attack that he could see, but one that was invisible was doubly dangerous.

Or, had Kakashi pulled a fake and formed random seals while whispering nonsense?

_That tricky bastard,_ Zabuza mentally prepared for an attack. _He could do either. Anything can be expected._

It was at that point Kakashi chose to disappear from sight.

And it was just that; he vanished without a trace. No smoke, no sound, no trace left.

Zabuza blinked twice in surprise, and then laughed. "You are definitely worthy of the title of the Second White Fang, Kakashi. I see; the hand seals were a distraction, weren't they?" He turned to the right, and then the left, up, down. ANBU. Kakashi was rumoured to be ex-ANBU and those guys were nothing short of manic psychopaths. Or so Zabuza had heard. He'd never stuck around long enough to find out for himself. Finally, he turned around.

His eyes widened in horror as he saw Kakashi's face six inches from his face. His sword meant nothing with Kakashi this close. He had no time to act -

Zabuza saw crimson red.

* * *

Sakura stifled a terrified scream as someone tapped her on the shoulder. That is, she _would've_ if she _could've_. A hand had already clamped over her lips and pulled her backwards. To her surprise and girlish delight, it was Naruto who had pulled her back.

"Naruto-kun!" she gasped, blushing. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to rest!"

Naruto looked at her disdainfully. She was thinking about his rest when there was danger on the bridge? How shallow _was_ this girl? He turned away from her. "Whatever. Watch Tazuna. I'm going to fight that ice nin."

She grasped his wrist before he could leave. "Why don't you stay here with me? Sasuke's already fighting him!" Her green eyes begged him, but his aquamarine eyes hardened.

"Exactly."

* * *

Haku let out a scream or pure terror and utter excruciating pain as he was released from the genjutsu. He fell limply from the ice mirror like a puppet having it's chakra strings cut one by one, and slowly, all of the mirrors began to crack. Suddenly, they shattered … the sound deafening in the silence that had dominated the air till now. Still, that sound was muffled by the mist that was gradually beginning to fade as well. The masked boy lay motionless on the ground, the only sign of life his uneven, shallow breathing.

Sasuke closed his eyes; that untested genjutsu had taken a large toll on him. Granted, it had not been the best choice at the time, but there was no one he could test it on in this world without having them blab out to the Hokage about his skill. And that was the last thing he needed.

"So that pitiful jutsu was your secret weapon?" he couldn't help stabbing at the hyouton's pride. _Huh... it must be an Uchiha thing,_ he thought. "I've seen Academy students do better." _Well, not really, but considering this is a fight... I can lie, can't I?_

Haku pushed himself up with difficulty, gasping for breath. "You... You are strong... but - "

"Dobe, what are you doing?" Both turned to see a familiar blond Genin. Naruto's question was phrased casually, but Sasuke could see his sapphire eyes hardening and flashing with anger. And he knew exactly what had caused that anger. Naruto had rushed over here, so that he could take part in the fight, having been out shone the whole mission by Sasuke, only to get here in time to see Sasuke defeat the hunter-nin. His pride was stinging. Sasuke had a better idea than anyone ever would.

But what was he supposed to do? Stand by and wait to be rescued, letting Haku use him as a pincushion like he had the first time around? Naruto's pride would survive if Sasuke stopped showing his actual skill, and sat back quietly and let the blond have all the glory. He supposed he could live with that till the chunin exams. But then the whole cycle would flare up again. What would satisfy Naruto?

More power. Sasuke could offer it to him, but would the blond take it?

* * *

He was bleeding.

Zabuza stared emotionlessly at Kakashi, blood leaking out of his mouth. His body was horribly mutilated; there was hardly a place where there had not been slash marks. He hadn't even been aware that it was even possible to move that fast but this was the student of Konoha's Yellow Flash. He should have known better.

Kakashi's chakra blade was piercing his chest.

He smiled - a sad sort of smile. The type when one knows they're going to die, and they can do nothing about it. It was exactly that. "... I see... So ends my life... The Demon of the Mist..." Then he paused, seemingly remembering something. "You... take care... of Haku..."

The silver-haired Jonin returned the request with blank onyx eyes. _Apparently the so-called Demon isn't so heartless after all,_ he thought.

He stared at the nuke-nin, the ninja's story playing in his mind. A man who was trying to free his village from an oppressive reign. A mission he'd failed and now a mission he'd never get to complete. Kakashi actually felt that this whole fight had been such a waste, so utterly pointless.

But he would not show pity for the Shinobi. He would not humiliate him like that.

Zabuza let out one last shallow breath, and his eyes dulled. Kakashi jerked his chakra blade out of the body's chest; Zabuza's body fell onto the ground with a thud. The noise seemed to echo on the bridge, and for a moment all was quiet.

* * *

Haku stared in horror as he watched his master's body fall back from the outstretched sword that Jonin was holding. This was it. His master was dead, and he no longer cared to live. His lips split, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Sasuke stared at Haku blankly. _He was so close to Zabuza, _he thought_, and yet..._ He swallowed, finding it surprisingly hard to do. _Is this what it feels like?_ he blinked twice, forcing the tears back. _To know someone you love has died? It's been so long since the massacre... But... why do I feel sad? It's not as if it was _my _master who has died._

_Then again, didn't Naruto cry for Haku that first time around? _

"So the old man finally died, huh?" Naruto's voice was filled with nothing but pure _smirk_.

Sasuke's eyes darted over to Haku. They widened slightly as Haku stood up, shaking with fury. The shadow over the hyouton's face suddenly lifted, and two furious ice-blue eyes glared at Naruto. "Don't you _dare_..." his voice shook with anger, "call Zabuza-san an old man!" Haku leaped at Naruto with surprising speed, considering he had just broken out of that Genjutsu. But as Haku had taught Naruto, you're only truly strong when fighting for someone precious to you.

_That dobe is so incredibly stupid at times -_

Still, stupid or not this was Naruto. This was _his_ dobe and his reason for fighting and Haku was aiming to kill him. Sasuke would not stand for that. A rage he had never managed to muster himself into ever before sparked to life within him and he acted without thinking.

In a flash, it was all over. Sasuke gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore the increasing pain in his right arm. He was in front of Naruto with his arm outstretched and Haku had his hand on the senbon that were meant for the blond but were instead in Sasuke's arm. Haku hadn't even bothered to throw it.

"Don't you _dare_," Sasuke's Sharingan eyes seemed to gleam with a red that was completely inhuman, verging on the point of insanity, "_touch my precious person!_"

Suddenly, Haku was hit by a blast of pure chakra. Red chakra. Evil - unwholesome - dirty - chakra. He had never felt this type of chakra before, and it felt as if it were on a completely different level. He couldn't resist -

He flew back, off of the edge of the bridge, and dropped into the water.

Sasuke grit his teeth as he focused on reigning in toxic chakra of the Kyuubi. That had been far too easy to call upon. If he remembered correctly, Naruto had only managed to crack the seal now, in Wave. Sasuke, it appeared, had managed it sooner.

Sasuke panted heavily, and it seemed as if that had taken all of his energy. He found new respect for the Naruto of his world because the blond had to deal with this all the time, this anger and pain, this urge to maim anything that so much as moved.

Then, he turned around to face Naruto. The blonde's sapphire eyes widened in terror. Sasuke's whole face had changed. There were semi-dark lines across his cheeks, oddly like whisker marks, and his eyes were not of the Sharingan but burning red. Lights danced furiously inside of those blood red pupils.

But the red chakra was receding, those eyes softening from the furious, wild, hatred to something more like a Sasuke-ish glare. Which was still pretty darn intimidating.

But what scared Naruto the most was Sasuke's expression. It was of anger, but also insanity, a mask of pure unreasonable rage. It reminded the blond of a wild animal.

"Don't ever," Sasuke's voice was rough, a growl of warning, "_ever_ insult someone's precious person."

And for perhaps the first time in his life, Naruto couldn't speak.


	6. Chapter 6

**Beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Miaow XD**

**Things as they are**

**Chapter 6**

The clatter of weapons and the pounding of footsteps broke Team 7 and Tazuna out of their state of tensed silence. Gatou and a multitude of men were on one side of the bridge.

"So," Gatou grinned in triumph, "you took care of those two. I'm glad, actually. I wanted to pay the boy back for what he did to my arm!" he held up his arm, which was in a large cast. He grinned an oily disgusting grin at Team 7, as though they'd just done him the biggest favour.

Kakashi turned an emotionless eye upon the stout businessman. "Gatou. You have been enough of a terrorizer to the Land of the Wave." He formed a seal. "You will be disposed of." As soon as he had said that, a hundred or so bunshin appeared behind him. Sasuke knew that intimidation tactics formed half of an experienced ninja's arsenal and that bluffing was sometimes the key in a fight that was otherwise tedious or dangerous. In this case, just a plain bother.

The men behind Gatou stepped back a step in fear, but Gatou laughed. "Come on! Don't you want that free meal ticket?" That seemed to boost their confidence by a little bit.

Then, Kakashi formed another seal. He disappeared in cloud of smoke, reappearing behind Gatou, who seemed not to have noticed him. "Gatou, don't you think it's a little early to celebrate?" He whispered into the man's ear. Sasuke had to appreciate the Shinobi's style. He may not be as lazy and perverted as his Kakashi, but he still had that knack for taking down an enemy in superb manner that just could not be done any better.

The stout man jumped; he had heard nothing to indicate the Konoha Shinobi had even gotten that close. He took in a deep breath to shout something, most likely some orders to his men, but Kakashi had slit his throat before Gatou had been able to say anything. Kakashi found himself wondering just how this civilian had been the terror of Wave for so long when he had tried to have Shinobi like Zabura taken advantage of and then tried to dispose of the Shinobi that had killed Zabuza. Honestly, common sense really wasn't all that common.

"Hey!"

"You destroyed our free meal ticket!" And there went the rest of the morons. Kakashi sighed, wondering how any of these fools managed to survive in their daily lives.

Suddenly an arrow flew out of the sky and landed a foot in front of the dead Gatou.

"We'll hurt you if you come any closer!" Inari's voice rang out clearly.

Kakashi smiled inwardly; so the boy had been able to recruit some of the villagers after all. It didn't matter that Team 7 would've probably been able to take the group by themselves.

After all, it was the thought that count. Not to mention, the little village was starting to understand that they had the power to take care of themselves.

* * *

Team 7 was silent as Kakashi fixed a wooden cross on a cliff as Zabuza's grave. He placed a wreath of roses over the top and stood back to admire it. It was strangely serene and majestic in the sunset; all silently agreed that there couldn't have been a better grave, nor a better death for a ninja of Zabuza's calibre.

As they turned back, Sakura asked quietly, "Sensei, Zabuza wasn't that bad, was he?"

Kakashi seemed to mull over the question for a little while. "No. He was just... misguided. He had a goal, and he chose the darker path in achieving that goal."

"Zabuza was a great ninja. Never forget that. He stood for something, was determined to obtain that goal. That is a worthy attitude to life." Sasuke added thoughtfully. "Even if his methods were not exactly the most honourable."

When the group of people had left, there was a small rustle in the trees. "Sayonara, Zabuza-san. You've been more family to me than anyone else has." The hunter-nin watched the one called Uchiha Sasuke with interest. This 'genin' knew about precious people, and he had spared Haku's life. He was strong, and he had a goal too. Haku could see it within that dark gaze. This 'genin', perhaps he could be Haku's new master.

Only, from the shadows, silently assisting where he needed. After all, Haku was merely a tool to be used by those stronger than himself.

* * *

"Are we there yet, Kakashi-sensei?"

"No."

"Sakura, stop asking. That was the third time in the last _fifteen minutes_."

"Baka! It's not like you aren't bothered by this heat!"

"I'm not."

"... Well, I am!"

"We know you are. We've been hearing you complain for the last two hours."

"Baka!"

Thump.

"Itai! That hurt, Sakura!"

"If you hadn't said that _very_ unnecessary comment - "

"Both of you are giving me a headache. Sakura, stop complaining."

"Hai, Naruto-kun!"

Sasuke merely sighed.

Why, just why, did he have to end up in this world?

* * *

All of Team 7's members were relieved to see the towering gates of Konoha. For a while - or actually, ever since they had left the Land of the Waves, there had been a repeating cycle.

Sakura would complain about the heat, sore feet, and anything else that she could think of that would have even the slightest possibility of getting Naruto's attention. ("My feet hurt! My back hurts! I feel faint...") Sasuke would roll his eyes and wonder if she'd forgotten about their little talk. Probably.

Then Sasuke would tell her to be quiet, or something along those lines that perhaps wasn't _as_ polite. ("Shut up. You're not as bad as you say." Or something like "We're all walking in the same place here and you're the only one complaining. Act like a ninja for once and stop whining.")

Sakura would shout back in anger. ("Are you calling me a _liar_?" or "I can't help it you're a freak.")

Sasuke would reply coolly, though less and less so every time. ("I believe that's what one's called when they don't tell the truth." Or "If I'm a freak for being a ninja then what does that make your precious Naruto-kun?")

Sakura would shout again. ("You - you - _jerk_!")

Naruto would tell both of them to shut up. ("Shut up, both of you. You both are giving me a headache.")

Sakura would smile sweetly at her crush ("Okay!") while Sasuke would roll his eyes. (_Can she get any sweeter?_)

There would be some silence, but then the cycle would start again. ("... Are we there yet?")

As yet another cycle began, Kakashi turned around and narrowed his eye at all three of them. "Look," he said, irritated. "Either all of you shut up or I'll leave you three tied up in a tree."

No one spoke for the remainder of the journey. Sasuke spent that silence planning all the ways he was going to make that orange book haunt his sensei until he damn well giggled like the perverted jonin he was on the inside.

And to think the silence on the way to Wave had been an issue.

* * *

"Name, occupation, and status, please?" The guard droned. He was beginning to tire; this job was so incredibly boring and he'd been here for hours already. Wasn't it someone else's turn yet?

"Hatake Kakashi, Shinobi, Jonin."

The guard started violently and began to stutter. He had been practically _dozing off_ in front of the famous Second White Fang! "I, er, that is - Kakashi-san - no, Hatake-san - "

Kakashi frowned at the indecisiveness. "May we pass?" He asked with a touch of impatience in his tone. He wouldn't admit it to the brats but he was happy to be home too.

"H-Hai!"

The four Shinobi walked past the guards without saying another word. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were still under the impression that even though they had reached Konohagakure, Kakashi would tie them up in some tree or leave them on top of a building if they said anything, and he probably would. Kakashi was still steaming from his subordinate's and the guard's lack of concentration. This was supposed to be his team. Their attitudes were a reflecting of his teaching. He cringed at that.

Needless to say, they did not make a very happy group.

"Hey, how'd the mission go?" asked a cheerful Obito, who had unfortunately decided to come and meet them at the gate.

He got four identical glares as a response.

"Geez, I was only asking..." Obito did not miss Kakashi's silent request to get him a drink for when he got out of the Hokage's office.

And when they reached the Hokage's office, it was obvious to the Yondaime that something had gone wrong. Of course, he was still steaming over the loss of his crystal ball, but he managed to put on a smile. (Though it didn't really matter, considering that everyone in the office knew a fake smile when they saw one.) "How was the mission?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Fine." Kakashi crossed his arms, giving Minato an immediate sign that it had indeed not been fine at all and gave him a look that stated they would be talking about this later. That scene in the crystal ball had been interesting too and he'd been dying to know what had happened since then.

"Okay." Naruto turned away with an irritated look on his face. _Is that because of the mission, or because of something else? _Minato wondered. Probably the mission, considering Sakura's mood as well.

The blond Hokage turned to the other two Genin, who also had their faces turned away in completely different directions. _So they don't have to look at each other,_ Minato frowned at the lack of 'team spirit,' as Gai would put it. "And you two?" He had hoped that putting Team 7 on a C-ranked mission wouldn't be a mistake, as he had the Council breathing down his neck, but it seemed he was wrong.

"We survived," Sasuke muttered lowly; Sakura murmured her agreement with Naruto, as usual, making Sasuke scowl.

Minato sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "It didn't go well, did it, Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi did not respond, but his eyes gave his request.

"Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, please leave." Minato's voice left no room for arguments. Silently the three Genin left. Naruto, however did glare at him, his broody mood deepening even more as he realised that this was probably about that S-classed secret he wasn't allowed to know but Sasuke was.

"Now, what is it, Kakashi?"

Kakashi's onyx eye met with Minato's sapphire eyes. A brief silence reigned in the office; then, the Jonin turned slightly to Iruka, who was looking quite startled at the attention. Minato took the hint and asked gently, "Iruka, would you mind leaving us for a little bit?"

"N-Not at all, Hokage-sama," Iruka managed a small smile and left immediately.

"Now, what is it, Kakashi?" Minato's face was stern and strictly business. Though he did not have this face on often, all knew - and perhaps Kakashi, his old student, more so than others - that he was perfectly serious and wanted the report plainly. Nothing left out, nothing added in.

"The mission was under graded. The client lied about the potential threats."

Just like that. Minato's crystal blue eyes widened. Unconsciously, his heart began to beat faster. "By... By how much?" he asked, barely managing to keep his voice under control. If the council found out about this …

Kakashi's gaze did not falter, but something - it was hard to tell, but Minato was fairly sure - flickered in his eye. Perhaps concern? "We encountered Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist as well as the Demon Brothers."

Minato sucked in a breath sharply in surprise. Then, after a split second of silence, he began to bombard his former student with questions. "What happened? Were you hurt? What about the three Genin? What about Naruto? Did they fight? Were they okay?"

Kakashi supressed an eye twitch before deciding that it was useless to try to answer all of his sensei's questions individually. Besides, wasn't it obvious that they were alright? They had been standing right there not five minutes previously. It would be better to summarize the whole story, he thought as he replied, "Shortly after we started, the Demon Brothers ambushed us, though we easily took care of them." _I can add the part about Sasuke doing strange things later_. "Then, we met up with Zabuza. I had no problem defeating him." Here Minato raised one of his eyebrows incredulously at the display of blatant pride, but Kakashi ignored it, "I trained the Genin in tree climbing, re-evaluated Sasuke," again the eyebrow went up, and again Kakashi ignored it, "and then we met Zabuza as well as his subordinate on Tazuna's bridge. I was distracted with Zabuza - "

"You _what_?!" Minato slammed both of his fists down on the table. Everyone, meaning the ANBU that Kakashi instinctively knew were there and could sense, except Kakashi jumped at the noise. "You got distracted by Zabuza and then let your three Genin fight another _missing-nin_?!" His sapphire eyes were burning, accusing the things he could not say as the Hokage. _You got distracted and let my son and the village's Jinchuriki fight another missing-nin_. Although Minato never saw Sasuke as merely the village's Jinchuriki. Sasuke had always been more than that to the Yondaime, perhaps a second son and Kakashi felt the double blow of the accusations.

Kakashi flinched. He probably shouldn't have told Sensei that. "Well... I had no choice," he reasoned. "And Naruto wasn't in danger - we had left him at Tazuna's house. Sakura was guarding Tazuna, so Sasuke fought Zabuza's subordinate, but he did an amazing job at defeating him - !" he rushed at the end, seeing how his sensei's eyes were practically burning.

"How dare you put Sasuke in danger with a missing-nin! And since you couldn't do anything, he - " suddenly Minato blinked, as if remembering something. The threatening aura disappeared immediately. "You said that Sasuke did an amazing job at defeating Zabuza's subordinate?"

Kakashi sweat dropped. How did his sensei changed moods so quickly? Bi-polar. The man was a manic bi-polar. "H-Hai..." his voice faltered for a moment, then resumed as he saw his sensei start to say something. "I don't know the details of the fight, though..."

Minato sighed, which was a better reaction than Kakashi had expected. "Continue."

"I defeated and killed Zabuza, and Sasuke defeated Zabuza's subordinate. After a surge of power from Sasuke - " At this point Kakashi tilted his head pointedly at the Hokage, earning a sharp intake of breath - "the subordinate disappeared. He might've fallen off of the bridge; I do not know if he is alive."

Minato was silent after Kakashi had finished his narration. He stared out the window, his brow furrowed with thought. Finally, he spoke, "We can deal with Zabuza's subordinate later. Now, explain to me what the hell happened with you and Sasuke during that mission." An order, not a request.

"You know about that?" Kakashi asked with a narrowed eye. Now that was just plain creepy.

"Somewhat. Now quit stalling and spill it already." Minato's mood had darkened again, only this time he was anxious and not threatening.

"Uh, well when we were attacked by the Demon brothers, I uhm, sort of, hung back, a little, so that I could see how the genin faired in teamwork. Sasuke was the one to react to the attack, taking out the two chunin with little to no effort before Naruto could even react." Kakashi stated slowly and uncomfortably at first, dreading the blonde's reaction to this development and rushing through the end part so that he at least had something positive to distract his sensei with. Worked the first time hadn't it?

"You hung back?" Minato repeated dangerously. "And Sasuke defeated the Demon Brothers?"

"Yes. Then when we encountered Zabuza he was completely unaffected by the sakki the nunke-nin had been releasing in continuous bursts, and he stopped a blow aimed to kill Naruto, Sakura and the client with a one handed kunai block." Kakashi had long since resigned himself to a slow and painful punishment. Best to get it all out now. The blonde's anger would be limited to one report and not several just in case he managed to hear anything Kakashi left out from the genin.

The stony silence he was greeted with told him he was in for a world of pain. The worst kind imaginable.

"Anyways, after an outburst from Sasuke to the client's grandchild, Sasuke left, seemingly upset over his own behaviour. Oddly enough the behaviour displayed was the most accurate display of the description in the boy's file since I had met him. I followed him in the hopes that his flustered demeanour would provide the opportunity to learn something more." Kakashi paused, tilting his head slightly. "All I got were more excuses and bluffs, like what he gave you. I re-evaluated his skills the next day and found him to be adept enough to land a blow on me. He also appears to actively lower his capabilities causing him to flounder in a fight. However, this 'habit' of hiding his skills does not extend over into real life combat situations. He knows when to push it and when to fake it, since I tried to push him into showing his true capabilities but he was so busy trying not to fall into some instinctive stance and into something more forced, but no less effective I'd imagine, that I was able to knock him unconscious, albeit accidently. I believe that had he been fighting me as an enemy rather than his sensei, if he hadn't been so focused on the amount of skill he had been showing, he would be on par with a Tokubetsu Jonin or a high chunin." Kakashi summarized and mused in the same lengthy speech, just to save some time. _Perhaps even higher but I hesitate to estimate that much_ . . .

"When he was fighting Zabuza's accomplice, the part of the fight I was able to see. He completely bested the other, forcing the other to rely on a Kekkei Genkai technique. It seemed that the technique was something of a last resort. After the technique was implemented, Zabuza and I engaged and I lost the luxury of observing Sasuke any further. However, I believe he disabled the other Shinobi by the use of a genjutsu." That assumption was based on the silence that had come from the ice structure just before that horrendous scream of pure terror and pain from Haku. Only a genjutsu would account for that.

"I see. And so the mystery deepens. You can go, Kakashi, but I still expect a written report." Minato sighed wearily, wondering with all his Kami given intellect why on earth he deserved such a problematic genin in his ranks.

Kakashi bowed deeply and left the room. The two ANBU in the room let out a sigh. Sometimes their Hokage could act so... _un-_Hokage-like.

* * *

Kakashi headed towards the jonin standby station where he hoped Obito was waiting for him.

He walked through the door, ignoring the stares and whispers. So it seemed word of his little C-rank mission had spread. How long until the fact that C was now an A-rank mission spread through to the jonin? He couldn't decide if it was jealousy or awe or even irritation that dominated the atmosphere. He really didn't care.

"So how did the mission really go?" Obito asked, holding up the probably stolen bottle of sake and gesturing for the silver haired jonin to hurry up and get over to the open chair next to him.

"It sucked. Sakura started the mission with a haircut. I don't even want to know what that's all about. And I suppose it should have been a sign in itself when she didn't declare undying love to Naruto the moment she saw him." Kakashi grabbed the bottle and took a large gulp, right through his mask. Ah, that was better. So much better.

"Ah come on Kakashi, kunoichi are not that bad." Asuma chuckled, joining in the conversation.

"I said Sakura started the mission like that. That was just before leaving the village. You don't even want to know what it took to get the fricken mission." Kakashi retaliated, before taking another swig. "Anyways, after some nice lengthy awkward silence, the fricken Demon brothers attacked." Another swig."*Hic* And then Sasuke, _Sasuke_, whips out some shuriken and some kunai and wham, bam thank you ma'am, has them both taken care of before I can even stop my head from spinning *hic* due to the replacement jutsu. *hic* So Naruto went from broody to pissed in about 0.4 seconds and stayed that way for the remainder of the mission … no he got worse." Another swig but this time Obito rudely took the bottle away.

"You know Kakashi, I love it when you've been drinking, I really do. But I also know where your limit is, and that isn't very far let me tell you. You've already reached it. Any more and you'll be snoring on my shoulder and this is a mission I actually want to hear about." Obito cheerfully informed the glaring jonin.

"So Sasuke stopped the demon brothers?" Asuma asked, just to get Kakashi going again.

"Yep. Then Zabuza attacked, you know the one from Mist, one of the Seven Sword's men. Anyways, he wasn't much of a problem, it was Sasuke that freaked me out. He stopped that ninja's sword with one hand, one! Naturally, Naruto went from pissed to downright intolerable, since he'd damn near fainted from the sakki while Sasuke looked merely slightly itchy or something." Kakashi snorted at the thought.

"What the hell! I knew Sasuke was hiding something but that's just crazy." Obito yelled, never one for being quiet.

It suddenly occurred to Kakashi that this was something that shouldn't be making its way around the Jonin ranks and he just might get into more trouble with his sensei should he continue his little tale. After all there was still the little outburst, the tree climbing, Naruto's bad mood once again, the return of Sakura's fangirlism, more Zabuza with a splash of accomplice. Heck even he was starting to lose count of all the things Sasuke had done that he should not have been able to.

Luckily, the slightly tipsy jonin was saved from further questioning with a slight puff of smoke announced the arrival of … something.

The jonin in the room looked at it before Obito braved it out and picked up the horrendously orange little book that had suddenly appeared on the coffee table. Obito flipped it open and read the inscription out loud. "_To Kakashi, this is a single step of many in my self-appointed mission to remove that stick lodged up your ass. Enjoy the present, really I mean it, __enjoy it__! Sincerely, Life._"

"Dear Life," Obito replied out loud and just as cheerfully as ever, "Good luck with that."

Kakashi was already out cold on the couch, snoring away his troubles and trusting Obito to lug him to his apartment. Obito sighed and tucked the little orange book into Kakashi's pouch, mentally loving the reaction Kakashi was going to have in finding the little book there at a later date.

The Uchiha had his suspicions about who 'Life' was, but he was just confused as to why Sasuke would care about such things and why an Icha Icha book of all things to start with. Still, this looked like it could get fun.

* * *

"Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun!"

Naruto gave a small sigh as he politely waited for Sakura to catch up. That is, it would be a vain attempt to try to evade that overly-obsessive teammate of his. "What do you want?" he hissed, trying not to sound too irritated. The mission to Wave was still pissing him off, and Sakura's general fangirlism behaviour just wasn't helping right now.

Sakura crossed her arms. "Well, excuse me for asking you to train!" She tossed her head.

The blond tried not to gape. Where was that _fangirl_? "A-Ano..." Had he really said that?

The pink-haired girl raised one of her eyebrows and frowned. "Are you feeling okay, Naruto-kun?" she asked suspiciously. Then, a grin spread on her face. "Do you want to train with me?" Naruto stared at her, but she babbled on. "I'm good at chakra control, but I'm not really that good at taijutsu. I could use some real pointers, you know? And Kakashi-sensei's never around when I need him, so maybe you - "

This sudden interest in training was just too suspicious to him. It could just be another warped attempt to get close to him.

"Whatever," Naruto shrugged her request off and started to walk away. "I'm busy."

"But..." Sakura sighed, feeling dejected as her crush disappeared from sight.

"Sakura?"

She jumped at the sudden voice, whirling around to face Sasuke, who had a raised eyebrow. "Baka!" she growled once she had gotten over of her surprise. Sasuke just stared at her. Honestly, it was beginning to creep her out... Sakura's eyes twitched.

Thus began a war of the stares.

"You need help on your taijutsu?" It wasn't a rude question, just a simple, 'are you, or are you not?' question. It wasn't jeering, either.

Still, pride prevented her from a simple 'yes.' "Why do you want to know?" Sakura frowned at her teammate. Where was that pride when Naruto was involved?

Sasuke seemed not to notice her bad mood. He was cocking his head at her, but his gaze wasn't really on her, as if contemplating something. "Do you want to train with me?" he asked suddenly.

Inner Sakura's first impression was: _**Baka! He probably just wants to spend time with me!**_Though, Sakura thought, _But then... he seemed so calm about it... not excited at all. Is that really Sasuke? _"Well..." she struggled to find the right words. "Ano..."

Sasuke kept on staring at her.

"Okay," she said, but then she burst out, "but it's not because I want to train with you!"

A small, knowing smile graced Sasuke's lips before he smirked. "Sure."

Step one of Plan Improve Team 7: complete.

* * *

After a quick spar and some tips, since that's all Sakura was really ready for at that moment, Sasuke walked down one of Konoha's main streets. He was in a fairly good mood; now, he was certain - if he could teach Sakura the Godaime's insane power and get her to learn more jutsus, both offensive, defensive, and healing - then things would not go the way they had. Orochimaru would not stand a chance. Regardless of the fact that Orochimaru had taught him many useful and dangerous jutsus, Sasuke held no fondness for his former tutor. In fact, the man disgusted him, and if not for the promise of power there would have been no way he'd have left Konoha. In fact, looking back on it now, he would even go so far as to say it hadn't even been worth it. Considered where Naruto and Sakura went in terms of power and by staying loyal to Konoha, he had to admit that perhaps his decision had been more than slightly rash.

But just how far away were the chunin exams? How much time did he have to turn Sakura into a capable kunoichi?

Sasuke strolled past the growling citizens on the sides of the street. He had learnt to block those stares and whispers out a while ago; as long as they did not directly approach him, he would not hurt them. Besides this was an amazing time to simply reflect on what he was trying to achieve.

He cocked his head; there was a shadow on his face. What was blocking the sunlight? A building? Sasuke squinted; it looked familiar. _What... oh._ It was the Konoha hospital. He'd been there before a couple of times, though the experiences unpleasant. The first time he'd been there had been the massacre; the last time, Itachi's reappearance.

A jingling of bells alerted Sasuke to stop as the doors slid open. Someone was coming out, apparently on crutches.

_Wait just a second._

_Do I know that person?_

Sasuke squinted. He knew that person.

"Otouto! What are you doing here?"

_That voice._

His blood ran cold and his heart stuttered.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sasuke asked in a barely controlled voice. His tone was ice cold and his body posture clearly emitted rage.

One of the other's eyebrows rose. "What do you mean, 'what am I doing here?' "

"You know exactly what I mean."

He laughed. _Just like old times, all of those times he played with me - _"Otouto, I don't have time for games." He tried to poke the younger's forehead with his fingers, like old times, but the hand was angrily brushed away. _Those days are over, _aniki,_ and I'm not so little anymore - _Itachi frowned. "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" _Ouch. _Sasuke had just bit the inside of his cheek, but he ignored the pain and the metallic taste on his tongue. He had to keep calm and remain at least civil to the other, there were still ANBU watching him and if he wasn't mistaken Shisui was one of them.

"Are you okay?" the other asked, placing a hand on Sasuke's forehead. The younger jerked away, refusing to be touched. "Don't you remember what happened?"

"No."

The taller boy frowned - what was that, on his face, _dejection_? "Am I really not that important to you?" he whispered.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke was panicking, almost mad from curiosity and being around _him_. Was this related to what had happened at the Uchiha Compound?

Uchiha Itachi - _him_ - shook his head. "Don't you remember? You went beserk in the compound a few weeks ago? I tried to stop you, but- " here he averted his gaze, "I guess I wasn't an important enough reason to stop."

_What?!_

* * *

_"No - No, I don't believe it - "_

_"Gomen, Sasuke, if I brought something unpleasant up."_

_"I didn't - "_

_"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it, even though the Elders may not agree."_

_"I don't - argh! Just - leave me alone!"_

_"What? Otouto - otouto, come back here!"_

_"Don't follow me!"_

It wasn't like Itachi could on crutches, anyway. But it gave Sasuke satisfaction in pushing away him.

He slowed to a walking pace once he was out of sight of the hospital. The rest of the conversation had seemed to take place away from himself, while he hovered above, an observer rather than a participant.

Sasuke needed to think out his thoughts. Glancing around, Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that no one he knew was around. Though many people turned their heads and grimaced because they knew who he was, he paid no attention.

Who was ani - _Itachi_ - anyway? In the other Konoha, he was a mass murderer and a S-classed missing-nin to boot. Here... he was... still _aniki_. He obviously didn't murder the clan and still cared about his brother. They were completely different. Polar opposites. Same person, but different ideals. Or maybe Sasuke was missing something from his world or this world was different merely because the Yondaime was here.

Sasuke rubbed his temples. This new Konoha was so confusing. It was hard for him to act like he knew what was happening. So far, what _had_ he gathered from this new Konoha? He began to list the changes, in the order in which he found them.

One. Obviously he had changed places with Naruto, which meant he regularly acted like him, too. As in, stupidity and everything. He liked orange, was brash, had a crush on Sakura, and lived in an apartment on the edge of town. And vice versa, with Naruto, who was a total jerk (surely he hadn't been that bad while he was Genin, right?), and wanted to surpass... someone.

Sasuke suspected that Naruto was the son of the Hokage, too, given the hint at the announcement of the Genin teams. _Namikaze_ Naruto? How many _Namikazes_ were there, anyway? The Hokage was the only one he could think of who had the same last name. They looked the same, too. The combination of blond hair and blue eyes was not common in Konoha. Yet no one had as of yet, in his presence, confirmed that Naruto was indeed the son of the Hokage.

Two. Naruto and his otou-san (perhaps the Hokage, but there was no definite proof of this) did not have a very good relationship. At least, there was a one-way rivalry. The Yondaime didn't seem like the person who'd have a rivalry, much less with his own _son_.

Three. _Okay, fairly useless piece of information_. Sasuke's eye twitched at this, remembering his careless mistake. The Graduating Exam does count towards the team divisions. _Though it could've been the same in the other world, and he just hadn't cared..._

Four. The Yondaime was the Hokage, and had an interesting relationship with him. 'Minato-oyaji,' wasn't that the nickname the Yondaime had said Sasuke liked to call him? Minato-_old man_? What type of nickname was that? And the Hokage allowed it, no less. Strange.

_So, _Sasuke thought, _I and the Hokage have a "good" relationship. I wonder why? Is because of the Kyuubi? Possibly,_ he mulled. _It makes sense._ And where was the Sandaime? Surely he'd have retired and would still be alive around here somewhere?

Five. The Uchiha clan was still alive, but it seemed as if he wasn't welcome there. Apparently he had done something to anger at least his otou-san and okaa-san. Maybe some others, too. Itachi was not at home at that time; Sasuke assumed it was because he was at the hospital. Sasuke frowned. Perhaps his otou-san's and okaa-san's anger had something to do with him going berserk in the compound.

It made sense; Sasuke remembered the ramen containers he had counted on his first day. Ninety-four cardboard ramen wrappings. Now, how much did Naruto eat in one day? His brow furrowed. _Definitely more than three,_ he thought. But then, there were those two wrappings that seemed like they had been spilled on at the same time. So perhaps, two ramen packages per meal? It was a wild guess, he admitted, but there was no harm in guessing.

So, two packages per meal. That made six packages per day, assuming there were only three meals in each day. Ninety-four divided by six made fifteen with four remainder. Fifteen days, four extra? That was two weeks and one day.

_A couple of weeks ago,_ Itachi had said. That was when he had gone berserk. Two weeks and one day plus the three weeks he'd been here since graduation. Five weeks and one day. Four extra ramen packages, for late nights. It fit.

Sasuke gave an audible sigh in pride. Orochimaru's teachings of observations had not been in vain, after all. So Sasuke had been kicked out of the Uchiha compound because of his attack on Itachi five weeks, one day ago, approximately. But what of before and why did he attack Itachi?

He couldn't be sure; of course, it fit, but if it was a coincidence... Well, there was only one way to find out. He'd have to ask someone who knew but would not suspect him. Which, was either Shisui since the ANBU already knew he was a little bonkers or he'd have to just live with not knowing.

Six. Kakashi was a lot more serious than he was in the other world. Far more serious. He still had his hitai-ate slanted over one of his eyes, but since he had not revealed the Sharingan in the battle with Zabuza, either he was extremely cocky or he did not have the Sharingan. _I remember Kabuto telling me about Kakashi, but I don't remember exactly what._ Sasuke racked his brain for the information, but nothing showed. He narrowed his eyes. _I hope that forgetting isn't another effect of being in this world._

Seven. Some man named Uchiha Obito was Kakashi's friend. He was carefree and much like the Naruto of the other world. And of course, he wouldn't be in the other world because Itachi had murdered the whole clan. Thankfully, this Obito character didn't seem to affect the timeline too much.

_Wait, that's what Kabuto had told me about. Something about Obito dying and giving up his eye to Kakashi?_ Sasuke made a face. _Gross. But if Obito didn't die, then Kakashi either got the eye from another Uchiha or he doesn't have one._

He frowned. _That didn't really help me at all,_ he thought, but continued on with his list.

Eight. Haku's fate. Well_,_ Sasuke thought it over, Haku wasn't really a change. He would've died, but ended up not because of the situation.

There was a difference between already changed and in the process of being changed, after all.

Nine. Itachi. Confusion was all that Sasuke could say. He was not even sure of who his aniki was anymore. Was he that psychopathic killer? Or a caring aniki? The way he had acted was certainly the latter.

_But he's probably putting up an act, and he'll murder the clan again!_ a voice in his head told him. _You'll have to put up with that all over again._

_No!_ he thought. _I won't put up with that again._ An ache in his heart remembered the day of the massacre, but he pushed it away, replacing it with feelings of anger. _If he does, I'll kill him. That's a promise._

_It was a certainty. _

* * *

Kakashi was paying only half attention while his team was training. Or arguing, to be more specific. It had started out training, but quickly evolved into arguing, just like every other day. He wondered briefly if he should take a more active role in their training but …

Strangely enough, the line between the training and arguing was quickly thinning.

He hadn't even _done_ anything. The Genin just took off on fighting on their own. Sakura was the starter, Sasuke was the defender, and Naruto was the add-occasional-comments-and-see-their-reaction person.

The Jonin sighed and shook his head. Maybe he shouldn't have stayed up so late the previous night, regardless of the fact that he was trying to decide how to phrase certain sentences on the Wave Mission report so that Minato wouldn't yell his head off or add to his punishment. He rolled his head, trying to relieve himself of the upcoming migraine and that hang over wasn't helping.

And that's when he saw _it_.

"So soon..." he muttered, then stood up abruptly. "I have to go. Have fun," he said, knowing that the only Genin who might've heard him would be Naruto.

Kakashi performed the shunshin no jutsu, disappearing into a cloud of smoke and leaving three very confused Genin.

* * *

Kurenai was satisfied with her team. Though she had been fairly nervous about her first year teaching, the Jonin had been relieved to find that her three Genin were not as bad as they could have been. Of course, Hinata's stuttering, Kiba's brashness, and Shino's silence all bothered her, but those were things that could be fixed.

She was so proud of her team. She was actually glad she'd gotten Kiba instead of Sasuke. It just felt better with the Inuzuka. They were definitely qualified for _that_ exam, though it was so soon.

Speaking of that exam...

"I'll be gone for a little while," Kurenai announced suddenly, and without giving the Genin time to respond or protest, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Kiba frowned. "Why can't we learn to do that?" he muttered.

* * *

The place Asuma's team visited most was the training grounds, like any other Shinobi team. The place they visited second most, however, was as _un-_shinobi as could be. But granted, they had an Akimichi on their team, and although Asuma had never been a large eater himself, they had been spending many noons at a barbecue place not far from their training grounds.

As he watched Chouji stuff himself with food, Shikamaru poke at his lunch, and Ino scold the two, Asuma chuckled to himself. Glancing outside, his mind began to drift. It wouldn't be long until another Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi team would rise. Their fathers were a powerful combination and they were shaping up to be pretty impressive themselves, personal quirks aside.

Asuma frowned suddenly. What was that outside his window? A small smile began to tug at his lips. Was it really that time so soon? "Excuse me, I have some business I need to take care of," he told his students.

Shikamaru watched his sensei rise and leave. Now, why would he leave so suddenly? And without a reason, too? Usually, their sensei gave a reason if he had to leave in the middle of training or lunch. But this time, he hadn't. Was there something they weren't supposed to know? Perhaps, concerning them?

He shook his head. _Troublesome, _he thought.

* * *

Murmurs greeted the Yondaime as the doors to the meeting room opened. Many Jonin shuffled in impatiently; amongst them, the Yondaime could see the three Genin team leaders: Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. _Good. They aren't late,_ he thought.

He raised his hand, and in a few moments all were silent. The Yondaime cleared his throat. "As most of you have noticed, it is time for the Chunin Exam."

"When is it?" asked a Jonin.

"A week from now."

Murmurs broke out, but he ignored them. "Nominations will begin now - we'll start with the rookie Genin. Those leading the teams please step forward. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma."

Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma all stepped forward. Minato noticed that Kakashi had one of those expressions which could only be deciphered by few; it was an expression of coolness, revealing the fact that Kakashi had already chosen his decision. Kurenai, Minato noted, had a similar expression as well. Apparently her first Genin team had exceeded her expectations. Asuma, on the left, was lighting his cigarette again, though the blonde could see that he was in deep thought.

"You should already know this, but any Genin who has completed eight or more missions qualifies to be nominated for the Exam. You first, Kakashi?" Minato smiled as his former student stepped forward. _I wonder how long it has been since I'd nominated him for the Chunin Exams?_ he thought absentmindedly but quickly shoved it aside considering the amount of years that it had been and being reminded that he was getting old wasn't exactly his favourite pass time.

Murmurs of "Why do we have to go through this again?" and "There's no way the Jonin will nominate the rookies" fluttered amongst the other Jounin, but Kakashi gave no indication that he heard them.

He brought one of his hands up to his face, forming a seal. "From Team 7, I nominate Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Namikaze Naruto. Under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I nominate these three to take the Chunin Exam." Lowering his hand, Kakashi shrugged and added, "It'll be interesting to say the least, to see what Sasuke does to piss Naruto off this time."

"You hate me, don't you?" Minato accused with narrowed eyes.

Kakashi shrugged. "Imagine what Naruto will be like if I _didn't_ nominate him." And the blond Hokage shuddered.

Surprised Jonin exclaimed their shock in excited whispers as he stepped back. Strangely enough, neither Kurenai nor Asuma seemed surprised. _Then,_ Minato thought,_ are their choices the same? _An unprecedented amount of Rookie Genin in one exam. However these genin were an exceptional bunch, having been particularly tricky to place into teams.

Kurenai stepped forward, forming the same seal. "From Team 8, I nominate Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Under the name of Yuuhi Kurenai, I nominate these three to take the Chunin Exam." She stepped back.

More gasps arose, and all pairs of eyes turned towards Asuma with the unspoken question of whether he would choose the same. He stepped forward and formed the seal somewhat lazily. "From Team 10, I nominate Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji. Under the name of Sarutobi Asuma, I nominate these three to take the Chunin Exam." He stepped back as well, looking relieved that his announcement was done.

A stunned silence reigned for a split moment, and then all of the Jonin excluding those three burst out in excited and anxious chatter. "Quiet," Minato ordered, although no one heard him. Irritated, he tried again, this time louder. "Quiet!" Again, no one could hear him over the chatter. Rolling his eyes at his subordinates' lack of concentration, he slammed his fist down on his desk. "Quiet!" he roared, releasing some sakki for good measure.

The Jonin stopped their protests, startled into silence. All eyes turned on the Yondaime, who looked quite annoyed at the moment. _Lesson one in dealing with Minato-sensei, _Kakashi thought amusedly as he glanced at his peers' expressions. _Do not ignore him. Ever!_

Obito, who was leaning against the wall at the back of the room, chuckled quietly. Leave it to Sensei to get everyone's attention. Then, he frowned. _But what if Kakashi really is rushing it?_ He sighed. _He probably is, knowing how impatient he can be. But then, what are the other two's reasons?_

Minato sighed, then smiled. The tense air evaporated immediately, and, satisfied that he had everyone's attention, he told the three Jonin-sensei, "I guess we have an exceptional batch of rookies this year, ne?"

All three nodded, opting for a non-verbal response. None of them wanted to risk angering their mood-changing Hokage. The blonde continued, "Well then, I guess that's settled. Now, let's move on to the non-rookie Genin - "

"Wait, Hokage-sama!" interrupted a voice, and all turned to see Iruka, whose face turned red with all of the attention.

Minato raised a brow, indicating for the Chunin to continue. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Iruka said, "Hokage-sama, these Genin were my students no more than three weeks ago. They aren't ready to take the Exam! Granted, they are very talented, but aren't they," he motioned to the three Jonin leaders, "rushing it a bit?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "We are their teachers now, and we know their capabilities best at the moment. Besides, I was half Sasuke's age when I became a Chunin." Kakashi hit the nail on the head and he had also forced back the stutter because truthfully, he didn't know what Sasuke was capable of, but a chunin exam was a piece of cake for the Uchiha.

Iruka felt his blood run cold. The other had known who he was most worried about, displaying that oh so fine-tuned ANBU persona of his. "Sasuke is different from you!" he tried to continue in his protest, trying to believe the worlds with all his heart because if Sasuke ever turned into something so heartless and arrogant, he didn't think he would be able to handle it. Yet, ever since graduation …

"But he, as well as the other Genin, are Shinobi now. They were your students, but right now they are my soldiers. They are completely qualified to take the Exam. Actually," he smirked lightly, "they have done more. Even after countless D-ranked missions, we took a C-ranked mission which rapidly escalated to a B-rank, and then an _A-rank._ So they are qualified, Umino-san." he finished, enjoying the stunned expressions of the others in the room.

Minato frowned. _I wanted to boast about it first,_ he whined mentally, _especially on how well Naruto did or didn't do, but we'll just keep that part out shall we..._

"But what Umino-san is saying is true!" another Jonin, Maito Gai, supported the Academy teacher's protests. He was wearing a green, one-piece outfit with a vest on top. "You're rushing too much. I made my team wait a year so they could refine their skills even more. And besides, how can they enjoy youth if you rush them?"

"I believe my team is ready, and the other two think theirs are as well." Kakashi cocked his head, his mocking onyx eye daring the man to challenge him. "Or are you afraid that my cute little genin are going to beat yours?"

"Yosh! Is that a challenge my Eternal Rival!" The green beast of Konoha rushed forward and rose a hand dramatically into the air. "From Team Guy, I nominate Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and Tenten. Under the name of Maito Gai, I nominate these three to take the Chunin Exam. Yosh! May their Youth Shine Through Eternally!" He turned to Kakashi, "And may they show your students how it's done."

"Oh Gai, I seriously doubt that." Kakashi replied while the other jonin started whispering again. Any genin that had Kakashi so arrogant was sure to be something spectacular.

Minato raised his hand for everyone to be quiet, and this time, all did grow quiet. Mildly pleased at his success, he said in his most Hokage-like voice, "We will now move onto the non-rookie Genin nominations, sans Gai seeing as he's already nominated his team. I just hope it wasn't purely for the challenge that Kakashi-kun presented. You can discuss this privately with one another afterwards, if you like, but not now. This meeting is not done." Kakashi scowled at being addressed as kun in public.

And with that, the Chunin Nominations continued; although in reality, few were paying actual attention and most thought of the fate of the rookie Genin._ How will they do?_ was the unanswered question echoing in all of their minds and _what had Kakashi so confident?_

* * *

After the rather unprofitable training "session," the dysfunctional Team 7 separated. That is, into two parts. Naruto left immediately, disappearing while Sakura had her back turned.

Sasuke hadn't missed the falcon, knowing that it meant the chunin exams. In fact he was actually disappointed seeing as he still hadn't been able to train Sakura. With the remaining time left he would not be able to get her to a point where she would be useful per say. The Forest of Death was turning out to be exactly like before, only this time Sasuke knew better. However, knowing better didn't mean he could change it.

Sasuke watched Sakura's disappointment at Naruto's refusal, but felt strangely delighted when she turned to him and began conversing. It was only light conversation, about the weather and happenings in the town, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Sasuke didn't know why he liked talking with Sakura like this. He had never in the original world, but then again, here he found himself behaving more like Naruto than himself. It was frightening, to say in the least._ Am I going to disappear?_ he thought. _Will my thoughts become Naruto-ish, as well? And what about my memories?_

He didn't want to lose his memories. They were the most important thing; he did not want to relive certain moments in time. Sasuke wanted to prevent them, not play along and watch it happen. It would be like reliving his life over again, only from the opposite viewpoint. And that would be the worst thing that could happen to him. _Did Orochimaru experiment on me because he wanted to torture me?_ he thought bitterly. How did he even get here? Wherever here was, seeing as he had come to the decision that this was not a dream.

Sasuke's and Sakura's conversation was rudely interrupted by a small boy who accidentally ran into him. The small child wore a long, blue scarf and a pair of goggles on his forehead. Sasuke blinked, startled not because of the collision but because he knew the boy. He had seen him somewhere before; now, exactly _where_ had he?

"Gomen nasai," the boy apologized breathlessly. He glanced behind himself nervously, and then continued running past the two Genin.

Sasuke stared impassively after him, but then two voices shouting called his attention to where the boy had run from. Peeking from behind the fence were two children, and Sasuke assumed they were that boy's friends. "Konohamaru-chan!" "Konohamaru-kun!" "We're gonna' catch you!" they yelled together, and then raced behind their friend.

Konohamaru. So that was the brat's name. _I remember,_ Sasuke thought. _I saw him when those Suna Genin -_

Oh. This was where they met those Genin.

"Oof!" Kankuro, Sasuke remembered, turned around and lifted Konohamaru by the scarf. "That hurt, brat," he growled.

Konohamaru whimpered, too scared into saying anything. The sandy blond-haired girl beside Kankuro - Temari, he remembered - frowned. "Stop it. We're going to get scolded later."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it!" Sakura shot a glance at Konohamaru to tell him that even if he _did_ mean it, he shouldn't say anything.

"Let go of him." Sasuke told them coldly, suddenly feeling very protective of the young boy. Sakura snapped her head to look at her teammate. There was no emotion on his face, except for a trace of disdain. Why was he acting this way? Surely things wouldn't escalate that badly, right?

Kankuro cocked his head at them and turned to Konohamaru. "But I want to play around before some noisy people come," he said lightly.

"Let go!" Konohamaru struggled, kicking his feet in an attempt to free himself from this strange person with barbaric face paint on. He wasn't used to being man handled and he certainly didn't like it.

Kankuro shook his head, grinning. "You're very energetic, kid," he chuckled.

Sasuke was at a mental crossroad. Should he interfere and free Konohamaru or let Naruto deal with the Suna genin? He mulled it over for a few seconds before deciding, an easy decision really. A smile spread on his face, and Kankuro became nervous; that Genin's smile reminded him of a predator's, reminded him slightly of Gaara even.

Sasuke's smirk widened before he disappeared and reappeared behind Kankurou with two long, slender fingers pointed at the back of his neck. "You know about pressure points, don't you?" he asked in a deceivingly casual manner, "Seeing as you're a puppet user." Sakura and the three kids gaped openly. _So fast, _Sakura thought. _Just how much is he hiding from me?_

Temari began to back away. "We should stop this before someone comes," she told them, trying to be the peacemaker.

"You're here for the Chuunin Exam, aren't you?" Sasuke asked, ignoring Temari's plea. Kankurou nodded slowly, unsure of his predicament, and the Uchiha continued. "Get lost. You shouldn't anger those whose village you're in. Especially without knowing their skill level."

A voice interrupted before Kankuro could answer or do anything. "The Chunin Exam is here already? I should have some fun." All eyes turned to a familiar blonde who was sitting on a low tree branch, one leg draped over the side.

Sasuke stared at Naruto impassively. "What are you doing here?" he asked, making no effort to hide his annoyance. "I thought you were 'busy'."

Naruto shrugged. "I couldn't let you have all the fun," he smirked. And how had Naruto known about this in the first place seeing as he'd walked away, deeming his teammates a waste of time.

"Kankuro, stop." Another voice rang out; it wasn't loud, but definitely commanding. Startled, Naruto turned to see a red-haired boy with an odd gourd strapped onto his back standing upside-down on the tree branch on the opposite side of the tree.

Sasuke frowned. _Gaara,_ he thought. How could he forget Suna's jinchuriki, the container of the one-tailed racoon?

"You are a disgrace to our village," the redhead continued.

"G-Gaara..." It was easy to see Kankuro's nervousness.

_When did this guy appear next to me?_ Naruto thought. _He was as quiet as Kakashi._

"Losing yourself due to an untrained child, how pathetic. Why do you think we came to this village?"

"Listen, Gaara, they started it - "

Gaara's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Shut up, or I'll kill you." The blunt statement startled the Konoha Genin. Sasuke realised very quickly that Naruto had been the one to knock sense into the unstable container the first time around and now that job landed squarely on his shoulders.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Kankuro put both of his hands up in an attempt to pacify his younger brother.

"I'm also sorry," Temari said quietly, when those blank eyes were turned towards her.

Gaara turned to Naruto next, stating in a mechanical tone. "I apologize for my teammates' behaviour." And before the blonde could respond, Gaara disappeared into sand and materialized next to his teammates. "Let's go."

"Wait. Your names?" Sasuke asked them, so he wouldn't seem suspicious if he accidentally said their names later.

"Huh? Me?" asked Temari as a blush spread across her face.

Sasuke cocked his head. "All of you," he said impassively, ignoring the blush.

"Kankuro," the black-covered Suna Genin said as he jerked a thumb towards himself.

"Temari," the blonde Suna Genin said as she blinked flirtatiously.

"Gaara." the red-haired Suna Genin said just as impassively. He turned around, and his unblinking sea-green eyes focused on the Uchiha. "I am also interested in you. What is your name?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Uchiha Sasuke," he said, trying not to show how pleased he was that Gaara was paying more attention to him rather than another certain teammate. Naruto, he could see, was raging internally at the attention shown at his "rival." Served him right for not being here sooner.

Gaara did incline his head towards Naruto, but his eyes lingered on Sasuke.

"Namikaze Naruto." The blond stated with narrowed eyes.

"Mother will enjoy your blond, Uchiha. And I will feel most alive when next we meet." Gaara intoned cryptically. "Yes, I see it now. You will prove my existence like no other."

"Don't count on it." Sasuke shrugged, making Kankuro and Temari gap in surprise at him.

_You should be more concerned with me, _Sasuke told the Suna Genin in his mind, _because I already know all of your strengths and weaknesses._

Oh, how he looked forward to this Chunin Exam.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei, what is it?" Sakura asked their teacher the next day at a rather abrupt meeting.

"Yeah, what is it?" Sasuke echoed his teammate, although he already knew the answer.

Kakashi held up three sheets of paper in his right hand. "I've nominated you three for the Chunin Exam. I assume you know what it is?" he looked pointedly at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes.

"Of _course_ I know," Sasuke said it as if it were obvious.

Ignoring his subordinate's tone, Kakashi continued. "You three, take these and fill them out. Turn them in at the room 307 at the Academy tomorrow if you want to take it. I'm not going to force you, and neither should your teammates," he glanced at Naruto and Sasuke.

All three Genin nodded, no further explanation needed. "If that's all then, I have a little something I've been working on." Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and Sakura sighed. She wasn't sure whether she should take it or not; after all, since the Wave mission, she had felt like she was weighing her teammates down.

She gave a little jump as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Sakura glanced up to see Sasuke, who smiled slightly. "You decide whether you want to take it or not, Sakura," he said. "I, nor Naruto-teme, should influence your decision." He then took his hand off of her shoulder, turned around, and disappeared around a corner.

Sakura stared at the sheet in her hands. Did she want to take it? Did she want to become a Chunin? Did she want to enter an exam that could cost her life?

After a few moments of staring at her paper, her green eyes narrowed in determination.

_If Kakashi-sensei hadn't thought that I could do this, he wouldn't have given me this sheet. I can do it. _She smiled, certain of herself, and then added as an afterthought, _Besides, I won't let Ino-pig surpass me._

* * *

Sasuke stopped abruptly. Someone was following him; after years of experience (okay, so maybe only three) he could tell when someone was stalking him. I don't remember this, he frowned. _In the original world... who was following me? Or was anyone?_

Suddenly, he felt a breath of wind on his right side, and immediately he leaped in the opposite direction. Moving into a defensive stance, he surveyed his opponent carefully. The Shinobi had a rain hitai-ate on his forehead, and a cloak around him. It was dark, so the other's features were hidden, but Sasuke could tell that the man was fairly tall and well-built.

But after his experiences, this Shinobi should be no problem.

"What do you want?" he asked evenly, letting no emotion into his voice; expert Shinobi could obtain many things from the strangest of hints.

The other let out a deep, echoing laugh. "Weak brats like you shouldn't be competing in the Chunin Exams," he said. "or there will be no challenge for me!"

Sasuke allowed himself to show a little bit of emotion, raising one eyebrow. "You're still a _Genin_?" he asked incredulously.

"Ehh..." the Rain Shinobi was taken aback at the question, ruffled that his attempt at intimidation had failed. "That is..." he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, not really having expected Sasuke's response and in turn not knowing how to react to it. Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Whatever, I'll make this quick."

The Rain Shinobi's eyes widened as a large fireball came towards him - barely jumping out of the way, he started to form some seals, but Sasuke was too fast for him. Upper kick, chin - round house kick, shoulder - and finally, a thrust at the chest. The Rain Shinobi groaned in pain, and Sasuke shook his head in disappointment.

"Pitiful," he said as he jumped away.

The "Rain Shinobi" poofed into a very dazed Iruka. "He passes..." he moaned.


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter was Beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Miaow**

**A huuuuuge thanks to everyone who favorites, follows, reviews and reads this story.**

**Please try to keep in mind that these chapters are still mostly the original author's work. **

**Things as they are**

**Chapter 7**

Itachi was, as some would call him, the perfect Shinobi. He had many titles, including "Uchiha," "genius," and "prodigy;" some would even argue that he was the one Uchiha who could rise and defeat even Madara himself.

But regardless of these compliments, Itachi, like any other good boy, never boasted and listened to his okaa-san. And he had a good reason, too.

His okaa-san was _scary_ when she was angry.

And since he did everything his okaa-san wanted when she was angry...

There was _logically_ no reason for him not to go grocery shopping, right?

Itachi casually slung the bag of groceries over his shoulder, trying to ignore both the weight on his crutches and the stares of the nearby people. "How much?" he asked in an almost lazy voice.

"3000 yen," the grocer replied, seemingly unaware that he was in the presence of perhaps the most well-known ANBU captain in the Shinobi world, aside from the Seond White Fang of Konoha.

The boy frowned. "3000 yen? For these few items?" he asked, lifting the bag. "That's too much."

The grocer shook his head. "3000 yen. I'm not lowering it."

"Some fruit for 3000 yen? I won't pay that. Lower the price."

"No. Hand it over."

"No way."

Itachi glared at the grocer, who sent an equally threatening glare back. For a moment, neither seemed willing to relent, but then the grocer sighed. "Fine, I'll lower it to 2500."

"That's still too high."

The grocer began to get impatient. "Take it or leave it!"

"2000."

"2300."

Itachi paused momentarily, and then nodded his assent. "Done." He took out his wallet and counted the money out.

The grocer gaped at the wads of yen bills in there. "You cheat!" he accused. "You had enough money! You just didn't want to pay that much!"

Itachi stopped counting the money and stared hard at the man, almost as if contemplating whether to answer that statement or not. The grocer, unnerved by the boy's cold eyes, stuttered, "Never mind. Just pay up." And Itachi continued to count out the money as if nothing happened. Handing the man the correct amount, Itachi hobbled out of the shop.

_Tch,_ he thought disdainfully. _Some people have no shame in pricing._

Shifting the bags on his right shoulder to lessen the growing soreness, Itachi continued down the street. As much as he disliked crutches and the thought of being "helpless," there was no other choice but to hobble down the road. _Like some crippled old man,_ he thought angrily while glaring at all of his watchers.

He knew why they stared. He was the Uchiha genius and here he was hobbling around in crutches.

… because of Sasuke. And apparently the boy didn't remember a thing.

He'd told Shusui about it but the other Uchiha had frowned and nodded, relaying to him the events at the compound while he hadn't been there. He added everything else too, the change in behaviour, the graduation exam, everything. Even that C-rank mission gone bad. Something was up with Sasuke and no one could figure out what it was. Soon, they were going to give it to Itachi as a mission if things didn't start looking up.

His anger did not dissipate until he reached the end of the road, where he took a left. Itachi was supposed to be heading back to the Uchiha compound, but he decided that he could gamble on his mother's temper and check the Forest of Death. After all, the Chunin Exams were going to be held there, and he hadn't been there since his own Chunin exams. _Had they changed anything?_ He wondered.

Slowly crossing the large, green field adjacent to the Forest of Death, Itachi let his mind wander. It wasn't a thing he did very often; after all, inattentiveness could get one killed on a mission, and he often had no chance to relax between them. However, with his handicap - Itachi _hated _that word - he was relieved of missions for a while.

Strangely enough, having no missions was worse than having missions. It was almost as if his mind was going into overdrive because there was no challenge. No hidden scrolls, no secret codings. And now, his mind was quickly creating scenarios to challenge itself on its own. _If enemies attacked 70 degrees from the right, where would I go? Could I move away quickly enough? Or would I have to stay? What jutsus could I use without having to move? _But these were not his only thoughts. They travelled to Sasuke and how he never got to spend time with the boy, never got to really treat him like the little brother he so dearly wanted. He was instead forced to watch from a distance as Sasuke grew up hated, mistreated. Yet the boy had always been happy, loud and determined.

But according to Shisui, he was more like Naruto now, so much more that he hardly smiled at all.

A shadow fell over his face, and Itachi glanced up in surprise. He hadn't realized that he'd already reached the Forest. It looked the same to him, although a bit more... _grown_. But there was still a tall fence surrounding it, and that warning sign on the front.

Many of the trees towered over the fence, but none of their branches crossed the boundary. _Wise,_ Itachi thought. _It wouldn't be good if any of the Genin climbed out of the area, would it?_

Itachi started to follow the fence around the area. He wasn't crazy enough to go all the way around the 10 kilometer diameter area and waste all of his energy, but at least he could survey some of it. There was little noise as he made his way; a few birds chirped here and there, and some snakes hissed their way across the trees, but aside from that there was silence. It complimented the dark, towering trees well, seeming to give life to the very definition of intimidation.

His time in the dark forest had not been pleasant but that was alright, it was merely because his team had been older and always felt the need to immediately jump in to protect him. That had stopped rather suddenly after seeing him compete in the third round. He'd also been promoted to chunin and they had not.

Suddenly, a voice behind him whispered, "Aniki?"

Itachi turned. "Sasuke!" he said, breaking out into a smile.

His otouto frowned. "What are you doing here?"

_Straight to the point like always. But he's so cold..._ Hiding his dismay, Itachi smiled. "Your Chunin Exams are coming up, so I came here to reminisce about my Chunin Exams. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. I just saw this area from the road and decided to check it out."

"I see." _No, I don't. You can't see the Forest of Death from the road, because it's a secret area only for Shinobi, too dangerous for civilians. Why are you lying to me, otouto? Are you trying to cheat? Do you know something you aren't supposed to know?_ "Well, otouto, I'm going to be a proctor in the Chunin Exam, so I guess I'll see you then." Itachi turned to leave, but Sasuke caught his arm.

Sasuke's mouth was opened slightly. It was a small gesture, but coming from him, it revealed his shock. "You're going to be a proctor?" he repeated.

Itachi nodded his confirmation, and was about to repeat his question of what exactly Sasuke was doing there, only demanding the truth this time, when his brother interrupted him. "But you're still recovering," Sasuke pointed out.

The older Uchiha shrugged. "I don't need to _walk_ to proctor the third exam," he said, cleverly giving a small hint about the third exam. It was a wasted effort but the older Uchiha didn't know that Sasuke knew more about these exams than even the examiners did.

Sasuke frowned, but Itachi said no more, and left his brother to his thoughts. After all, his okaa-san would be angry if he didn't deliver these groceries, and he did _not_ want that.

* * *

"Did you hear? There are going to be rookie Genin in the Exam this year!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! I heard from Gai-sensei!"

"Rookie Genin? How absurd. Besides, even if they're good, they won't be able to beat us."

_Thunk_. A kunai hit the wooden target with deadly accuracy.

"I heard that one of the sensei to the rookie teams challenged Gai-sensei. He said that his team was better than us." Lee stated, looking down thoughtfully.

"How the hell did we become part of a bet?" Tenten fumed.

"Bet it was Hatake." _Thunk_.

"Gai-sensei does seem to have a weak spot when it comes to his Eternal Rival. Do you believe that they will win against us?" Lee continued. "Because if this is true then I must train harder than ever before."

"No. We will win and that is all there is to it." _Thunk._

* * *

Sasuke tapped his foot impatiently. He was alone at the Academy entrance; he had overslept this morning after pouring over scrolls the previous night (just so that he wouldn't make a stupid mistake if they changed the exams), and in his haste, had forgotten that the initial meeting time had been changed to thirty minutes later. It wasn't that long of a wait, but he was impatient, and time became slower when one was impatient. Not to mention he kept seeing teams entering the venue and giving him a look of utter disbelief, as though he was still the Academy dobe in their eyes, the hopeless Uchiha runt.

He was still thinking about what Itachi had said the previous day. He hadn't meant to let Itachi know that he was also there, but "aniki" had slipped out of his lips as if it were oil. Although, he was glad he did, because if he hadn't he wouldn't have known that Itachi was going to be a proctor. Proctor? _Him_? Was it even allowed, with all of the Uchiha participating? And was it safe? _He might just pull a massacre if the matches in the preliminaries aren't as interesting as he'd hope,_ Sasuke snorted. And just how skilled did a proctor have to be anyways?

Then, his thoughts turned to the Exam itself. He hoped that the exam would not change, but even if they did, he would be able to pass it, right? After all, he had already been far past Chunin level at the Sound, back in the original world. So, theoretically, this one he should be able to pass, regardless of the unusual batch of Genin this year. They were all painfully weaker than him.

Unless Kabuto was in the exam. Then he just might be a problem but his presence would be troublesome. Would his participation alone be enough confirmation that Orochimaru did indeed plan to invade like he had last time? Perhaps not considering his role was to spy and he had been in seven or so prior chunin exams.

Discounting Kabuto, Naruto and Gaara, the two jinchuriki, were probably the most powerful Genin in the last Exam but only in terms of raw power. Not most threatening (at least in Naruto's case). After all, power was useless unless one could control it. The actual threats had been - and would most likely be the same in this world - Rock Lee (Sasuke grimaced as he remembered his defeat, and vowed that it would not happen again), Hyuga Neji, and Nara Shikamaru. Although, Gaara would probably be one as well, along with _Namikaze_ Naruto. Last time Neji had been the most well-rounded. Shikamaru had the most battle able mind. Lee had the best taijutsu and then there was himself. He had been in a league of his own. He supposed the Aburame, with those bugs could be a problem should he have to face them. What if he had to face Naruto, during the preliminaries? After all that selection had been completely random.

His expression souring, Sasuke remembered that he had almost no progress with Naruto. That was, progress in... friendship? _Maybe I should've let Haku die after all,_ Sasuke thought. _We gained a fairly good relationship during the Wave Mission. Would it have been better to keep things the way they were?_

_I hope I'm not ruining my second chance,_ Sasuke thought. _I sold my soul to Orochimaru back then, and if not for the new jutsus, I would never have gone. Just who will Orochimaru's target be this time around? If he tries to go for Naruto, manages to mark him, will Naruto do the same as I did? _His eyes narrowed. _I'm won't let him._ Then, his eyes widened. _Am I really thinking of Naruto as a friend? We aren't friends. We're rivals. Why should I care about what he does?_

But still, part of him refused to acknowledge that questioning. _Is that the Naruto part of me, or actually me? Why would it be me? It must be an influence of the Naruto part... So, why is that part dominating my thought process? Why?_

The more Sasuke thought about it, the more he became confused. _Argh! Just -_ he rubbed his forehead, trying to stop the oncoming headache. _I don't want to think about this,_ he repeated like a mantra in his head. But his mind wandered, and he could not stop himself.

_I don't want to think about this! I just want to do this! I'll do this, and whatever consequences come up, so be it! I don't care! I don't -_

"Sasuke?"

Startled, his eyes opened to see Sakura looking at him with a concerned expression. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Uh," Sasuke removed his hand from his forehead, " Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Trying to distract her, he asked, "Where's Naruto... " seeing her puzzled expression, he added quickly, "...teme?"

"He'll probably be here soon. I passed him on the way here, since his house is on my way, but he said he had something to do." She shrugged.

Inwardly, Sasuke was pleased that she didn't gush over Naruto anymore - _Why am I pleased? I'm not her friend, am I?_ Pushing those thoughts away desperately, he said, "It was probably some preparation for the Exam today." Sasuke wished he'd slept in at least.

"Yeah."

They stood in awkward silence, looking anywhere but each other. The wind blew and birds chirped occasionally, but as for words, silence was deafening.

_Speak!_ Sasuke ordered himself, but he couldn't for fear of more of the earlier confusion. Instead, Sakura spoke first. "So..." she started, "I guess you've been studying a lot in preparation, too, huh?"

Sasuke gave her a look that practically shouted, _Are you insane? Why would I _not_ study a lot? _And Sakura's shoulders drooped, but he said, "Yeah, a lot. Mainly genjutsu, actually; my chakra control isn't the best, so I've been working to get it up."

Sakura's eyes brightened. "I'm good at genjutsu!" Then, she stopped abruptly, stuttering, "I mean, I didn't mean to make you feel bad..."

"No, that's okay. Your chakra control is good, excellent even - that's why genjutsu and probably healing jutsu are your type." _Take the hint! Medical jutsu, Sakura! You're perfect for it. Tsunade's own apprentice kind of perfect._

"Medical jutsu?"

_Yes!_ "It requires perfect control, but seeing how you've already got that..." Sasuke trailed off, trying to spark the girl's imagination. "It not something that just anyone can do and it's considered extremely valuable."

"I'd like that!" she said brightly. Sakura was about to say more, but then a voice from behind them spoke.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go in already." Naruto walked past them, clearly taking the leader position. Sasuke scowled at his back but otherwise did not comment.

Exchanging glances, Sasuke and Sakura followed. It would be more beneficial to just follow their teammate rather than argue.

* * *

When they reached room 307 - _Or rather, 207,_ Sasuke thought - there was already a large crowd in front of the doors. Two Genin stood in front of the rest with sneers on their face.

"Be glad we're blocking you," one of them said.

"Did you think the Chunin Exam would be easy? People die. _That's_ how easy it is." The other raised one of his arms and easily blocked a girl – _Her name had repeating syllables, I remember, but I don't remember what it was exactly, _Sasuke thought - and sent her flying back to her teammates.

"Please let us by," she begged, but the Genin paid no attention to her pleas.

"Cut it, Kotetsu, Izumo," Naruto's voice rang out clearly over the buzzing crowd, and the mob split to let his team through. All recognized him as the Hokage's son and all treated him with silent awe. Sasuke just scowled in annoyance at the teme's stupidity.

The two Genin glanced at each other nervously, and then faced Naruto. "We don't know what you're talking about," one of them said.

The blonde cocked his head, a confident smile on his face. "Yes, you do.–" his little pompous speech was cut off as Sasuke smacked up upside the head. "Teme, quit messing with the loser patrol." He tried to convey to the fuming blond all that Kotetsu and Izumo represented by simply being there in a single look.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, not yet understanding what Sasuke was getting at.

"Don't ever touch me again." He snarled.

"Or you'll do what?" Sasuke smirked, inwardly delighted at pushing the blonde's buttons. He saw Naruto's hand twitch towards his pouch but he didn't reach for the kunai … yet.

The spectator Genin whispered among themselves confusedly, wondering what was going on between the two teammates. "Is he joking?" one asked another.

The Genin, Kotetsu and Izumo as Naruto identified them, seemed relieved. Naruto turned to them and his eyes narrowed in contemplation. Sasuke rolled his eyes, wondering how Naruto was seen as the smart one in this world. Naruto's gaze took in the people around them and the fact that none of them seemed to be able to see through the genjutsu and understanding dawned. Finally.

"You're pretty good," Kotetsu acknowledged quietly so that only Team 7 could hear, and then added with a smirk, "but you're still not good enough for us!"

In the blink of an eye, Kotetsu had aimed a kick at Naruto, and Naruto had tried to block it with his hands. Sasuke, noting that Lee no longer seemed as fast to him, saw the green Genin dash in between the two and block both of them with his hands. _He's still fast, _Sasuke admitted, _but he's still not good enough for me_. Although he would've liked to show off as well, there was no reason to purposelessly start a fight with anyone who might be a possible enemy later.

_Hm,_ he thought. _I've grown more patient, although I don't remember Naruto being patient. Is this just myself? _Pushing those thoughts back, he watched the scene unfold.

"What are you doing, freak?" Naruto asked Lee, who seemed not to have heard the insult part.

"We shouldn't fight before the exam." Lee stated. Then, he released his hold on the two Genin. Well one of them wasn't a genin but that was all in the finer details and who really needed those?

Kotetsu shook his head. "Whatever," he said indifferently, crossing his arms, moving back to his position next to Izumo who hadn't taken his eyes off of Sasuke the entire time. "Iruka was right about you." He murmured to the Uchiha with a frown.

Then, Lee turned to Sakura with a blush on his face. "My name is Rock Lee. Will you go out with me?" he asked eagerly. "I will protect you with my life!" His proclamation was enough to break the strange tension that had fallen over them.

Sakura's eyes twitched and a large sweat drop appeared on her head. "N-No thanks," she stuttered.

Sasuke smiled inwardly. At least Lee hadn't changed a bit.

Then, behind them, he saw Neji approach Naruto. "What is your name?" The Hyuga asked. How could he not know? Naruto was so arrogant and he was well known. Did the Hyuga live under a rock?

Naruto responded just as rudely. "Isn't it manners to offer your name first before asking another's name?"

Sasuke could see the smallest crease in the Hyuga's forehead, signalling his annoyance; however, Neji complied. "Hyuga Neji. Now yours?"

Naruto smirked. "I have no obligation to tell you." Then, he turned away, leaving a silently fuming Neji. Sasuke knew that Naruto's attitude was merely because he wanted to, because he could, believing himself to be above all those that were about to enter this exam.

Sasuke shook his head. _Idiot, can't you see that you've just made an enemy of a Hyuga?_ He thought as they left the crowd, many pairs of eyes following them. Even he knew not to do that.

* * *

Kakashi nodded to his team as they approached him. "Good job," he said. "You did not fail my expectations."

"Then, that spectacle back there was actually a test?" Sasuke confirmed that which he already knew, cocking his head marginally.

The silver-haired Jonin nodded, slightly surprised. He had expected at least one of them to notice, but he had thought it would be Naruto or Sakura instead of Sasuke. Then again, Sasuke was always surprising him one way or another. "Also, all three of you entered. If even one of you had not come, then I would have had to disqualify all of you."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But when you told us that it was completely our choice... That was a test, too?"

Sasuke turned to her. "It showed that we wanted to take the Exam and not pressured into it by teammates. It showed that we were at least mentally ready and believed ourselves to be emotionally ready as well."

"Right, Sasuke." Kakashi was about to say more, but then Naruto interrupted.

"Just let us in. I can't wait for it to start." Sasuke was starting to strongly believe that Naruto needed to have his ass handed to him, and soon. But anything like that right now could be the difference between the blond staying or leaving to join Orochimaru should he end up being the Sannin's intended target; should there be an invasion.

Kakashi paused for a mere moment, watching Naruto with calculating eyes but he nodded without saying a word and opened the doors. They were greeted with immediate noise from the huge crowd of Genin that had appeared, including the rookie Genin. Ignoring Ino's squeal of joy and Sakura's exclamation as the platinum blonde jumped onto Naruto (better the dobe then him that was for sure), Sasuke observed the room. The crowd was roughly the same size as last time; he had not had the Sharingan activated then, but his memory was exceptional, so it was fairly easy to remember.

He saw Kabuto leaning against the right wall, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. _Tch, Kabuto, you'll have to work to get close to us,_ Sasuke thought. Then, he turned his attention back to the crowd_. I don't remember seeing that weird lady who Orochimaru posed as, but then again, I wasn't looking - oh, there she is. She's talking with her teammates... but Orochimaru could be any of these Genin. Or, maybe he isn't here at all. He could be watching. With Namikaze Minato as the Hokage this time around, there's no telling just how far Orochimaru is willing to go or what he's planning to do._

Sasuke frowned, a sudden thought entering his mind. _What if he's not after Naruto? After all, Naruto doesn't have the Sharingan. He's the son of the Hokage, and maybe a little bit more talented than regular Genin, but those traits are nothing Orochimaru would want. Maybe he's after an Uchiha? _His eyes widened. _Me, maybe? _He didn't want to risk sounding arrogant here but the possibility was there because he just didn't see what Naruto had that Orochimaru could possibly want other than large chakra reserves and that really wasn't anything special.

"Sasuke!" A hand shook his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Sasuke turned his head to find Kiba behind his shoulder. "What is it?" he snapped, before realizing that he was supposed to act Naruto-like. "Er..."

Kiba backed off, raising both of his hands, although a grin was still on his face. "What, you're nervous?" he teased. "The oh-so-powerful Uchiha Sasuke is nervous? I guess all of your boasting back at the Academy was just talk!"

"Shut up! It's not like you aren't, either!" Sasuke shot back, mirroring Kiba's grinning expression because he figured that was as Naruto-ish as he was willing to go.

"What did you say? Of course I'm not nervous!"

Noticing Kabuto's interested expression, Sasuke turned his back and put both of his arms behind his head casually. "I don't need to talk to losers."

"What?" Kiba shouted, enraged. "You're more of a loser than I am! You were the dead-last of the Academy!"

Kabuto's interested expression vanished with a tinge of disappointment, Sasuke noted. Relieved, he told Kiba in a tone that only the dog user could hear, "I've improved. Drastically."

"Well, I don't believe it!" Kiba shouted.

Ignoring the Inuzuka's declarations, Sasuke walked over to Naruto as Kabuto approached the group. He was unsure of this alternate Kabuto's ideals. Would he try to hurt them now? Was he still trying to bond with them? Was he even with Orochimaru?

"Guys, this isn't a school field trip," Kabuto said.

Naruto cocked his head. "Who are you?"

"Yakushi Kabuto. Now, look behind you." All of the rookie Genin did so, and were slightly startled to see three ominous-looking Rain Shinobi. "They're from Amegakure. Don't get on their bad side!" he warned.

The nine rookie Genin turned back to Kabuto, uneasiness on their faces, only Sasuke's was for entirely different reasons. "Why are you telling us this?" Shikamaru asked.

Kabuto smiled easily. "We're all Leaf nin, aren't we?" _Sure, sure, you just keep singing that tune. I know who you really are._ Sasuke mentally growled, forcing himself not to react to the ninja.

The Genin seemed to take that response at the face value it was presented as. Then, Kabuto reached into his back pocket and pulled out a deck of orange cards. "These are information cards. I have taken this exam seven times, and now I have all of this information on these cards." Flipping the top one over, he showed it to the Genin. "See? They look blank at first, but if I channel my chakra into the cards," he did so, and an image began to show, "The information will show. It's good to be prepared."

Then, he looked at the others. "Is there anyone you would like me to check up?" he inquired.

Sasuke's eyes darkened and started to say, "No, we don't need help from you -" but Naruto cut him off.

"Yes, we do." Since when did Naruto accept anyone's help?

"Would you mind describing them as closely as possible?"

"Gaara of Sunagakure... and Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure." Naruto said, turning to his teammate, who looked unsurprised.

"Oh, you know their names. That makes it easy." Kabuto started to spread his cards out on the floor, giving no indication of knowing the two names.

However, the rest of the Genin were confused. "Isn't he your teammate, Naruto-kun?" Ino asked.

Sakura shuffled her feet, "Yeah he is, but Sasuke … he's not what you guys remember. He's different, strong." She mumbled and Sasuke wanted to smack his forehead.

"Sasuke?" Shikamaru suddenly interrupted with a frown, "Troublesome."

"Yeah but Naruto-kun can still kick his ass." Ino declared hotly, posture faltering at Sasuke's slight snort and Sakura's tiny wilt and her lack of immediate agreement.

Naruto did not answer, but turned back to Kabuto, who was shuffling through his cards with a strange smile on his face, like he'd been listening to the whole thing rather intently, but he didn't comment. "Let's see... Here it is." Kabuto placed a card on the floor, and all of the Genin leaned over it to see. The card glowed for a moment, and then an image appeared. A small picture of Gaara appeared in the upper left, and kanji began to write itself below.

"I don't have that much on him, since this is the first time he's taking the exam, but here it is. Hm, a few D-ranked missions, some C-ranked missions - oh! This is interesting. He came out of a B-ranked mission unscathed!" Kabuto was feigning his interest, Sasuke could tell, but the other Genin seemed not to notice, exclaiming their awe as well. Naruto's eyes gleamed with the thought of a challenge, Sakura began wringing her hands worriedly, and the rest showed similar actions.

The image disappeared, and Kabuto placed that card back in the deck. "Now, an Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure?" Shuffling through the deck again, Kabuto cocked his head. "And he's your teammate, who is rather mysterious even to his own team?"

Naruto nodded once, but then ordered, "Keep looking. It's no business of yours."

Kabuto smiled that knowing smile of his. "Of course," he said lightly. Taking a card out of the deck, he placed it on the ground, and channelled his chakra into it. Sasuke's picture showed up as well as some information. "This is the first time you and your teammates are taking the exam, too, so the information is limited."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He had to get that card away from Kabuto, and quickly, before any unwanted information - that is, the Kyuubi and all the other things he'd been slipping up on - got out. "Let's see oh how interesting. Says here that he managed noticeably well in a spar against his jonin sensei, Hatake Kakashi, managed to land a blow. Suspected of–" Startling the Genin, Sasuke snatched up the card. Kabuto and the other Genin watched the card slowly disintegrate into ashes between two raised fingers. Cocking his head, Sasuke grinned. "Kabuto-san, it wouldn't be very interesting if everyone knew my information, ne?"

Kabuto blinked, a startled expression on his face, but the smiling mask was soon donned again. "I see. However I read enough. Suspected of being a spy, placed on Hatake's team to be watched and executed if necessary. Also has questionable excuses to explain his equally questionable behaviour. However, skills and mission were not something I had been able to read over, just that interesting little opening paragraph."

"Suspected for being a spy?" Sakura breathed out in surprise.

"So that's the reason there was a switch in the teams." Naruto stated lowly while Sasuke looked away. "When the hell did you and Hatake spar?"

"Apparently being skilled is a problem." Sasuke murmured, not answering Naruto's question. "And he cheated in that spar." Sasuke added with a childish pout.

Kiba glared at Sasuke. "Why did you do that, baka?" referring to the burning of the card.

Sasuke glared right back at Kiba. "Would you want everyone to know your secrets?"

"You don't have any secrets!" Kiba protested, completely disregarding what he'd just been told.

Sasuke was about to answer, but another voice silenced them all.

"Quiet, you brats!"

Morino Ibiki, the first exam proctor, was here and with him came the confirmation for the remainder of the Genin exams. Looked like it was going to be the same exam as last time. How boring.

* * *

Bored, Sasuke leaned back in his chair. He already knew the answers to the exam; after all, he had used the Sharingan back then, and the answers were still imprinted in his mind.

Ibiki was going over the rules; Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to catch maybe only a minute of sleep since he hadn't had much of it before the exam had started. _There are ten questions, nine of them will be written and the last will be oral, if you're caught cheating three times, you and your teammates leave, blah blah blah. Get on with it, old man._

He wasn't sure when he noticed that Ibiki had stopped talking and the only noise was the scratching of pencil lead against paper. Cracking an eye open, Sasuke glanced at the clock. _Oops, I think I slept too long. It's already twenty minutes past..._

Thoughts went over what Kabuto had said and their possible consequences. The information itself was worrying in that Kabuto had been able to obtain it. He should not have and it displayed a rather large gap in the Leaf's security system. He would have to inform either Kakashi or the Hokage about this.

Picking up his pencil Sasuke began to fill out the answers, adding the small challenge of writing them all in code. In a few minutes, he was done, and once again bored out of his mind. Peeking back, he saw Naruto form a few seals and aim them at Sakura. _Wait, wasn't that the Yamanaka's Shintenshin no Jutsu? How did Naruto learn that?_ Sasuke shook his head. _He must have learned it from his old man. _Then, he frowned. _Isn't Ino doing the same thing... at the same time... to the same person?_

Stifling a laugh, Sasuke watched as Sakura was taken over by two people at the same time, jerking up as if she were stunned, and then grasping her head as if a sudden headache had attacked her. This continued for a little bit, but then she began to study her own paper. _I guess Ino and Naruto agreed to work together,_ Sasuke thought. _Or, Naruto agreed to work together. Ino would've anyway._

He turned his back to Sakura now. Taking a glance at the other Genin, Sasuke noticed that the strange lady from Ame - Orochimaru, perhaps? - was sitting in the back and also that a large percentage of the participants from Konoha were Uchihas.

He smirked, wondering if the Chunin Exams would be harder since there were more of the _ultimate_ clan, the Uchiha.

Could they measure up to him? He doubted it. In fact he could guarantee that they could not.

Turning back to his page Sasuke wondered if he should doodle on it to pass the time or if he should go back to taking a nap seeing as only ten minutes had passed since his last nap.

The slight snoring that filled the room was all the answer any person needed to that question. Sasuke missed the slightly interested look that the suspected Orochimaru was giving him. Had he seen it, he probably would've shivered.

* * *

Morino Ibiki watched with a growing tic of annoyance as the Uchiha Jinchuriki brat continued to snore in his exam. He hadn't missed the fact that during the explaining of the rules the brat had had the audacity to take a nap then as well. Then he'd scribbled down his answers, not even appearing to use any method of information gathering as he did so.

Did the brat know the answers? Or had he not even bothered trying to get them right? Pulling out a kunai he flicked it casually at the genin's table. A hand flew up almost absently and caught the kunai before a bleary glare met his gaze.

That Uchiha brat sure was as interesting as the reports said he was.

Ibiki stood up suddenly and announced, "The time for the tenth question has begun!"

Sasuke rested his head on his cheek, almost dozing off again as Ibiki continued on about the tenth question. Genin around him murmured, trying to decide whether to quit or to take the final question. A few stood up, and then more; soon, the room was half empty.

Ibiki surveyed the room. "Anyone else?" he asked.

Sasuke almost wanted to bash his head on the table out of sheer boredom. This exam wasn't nearly as challenging as it had been the first time around. Sucked when he knew all the answers.

_I can't believe Naruto was so stupid as to burst his protests out last time,_ Sasuke thought. _That encouraged the rest of the Genin, meaning that there would be more competition. That idiot._

When no one else raised their hands, Ibiki gave a small smile suddenly and announced, "Then everyone here... passes."

Gasps flew around the room. Kiba shouted, "What?!"

Sakura raised her hand. "What about the tenth question?" she asked, unable to believe the proctor.

"You could consider that question the tenth question." Ibiki said.

"What?" From the back, Temari protested. "Then all of those other questions were all for nothing?" Many of the Genin muttered in agreement, angry that all of their hard work had seemingly been for nothing.

Ibiki replied, "They were for a reason. Information gathering, as many of you have guessed." He motioned to the crowd. "We put two Chunin who knew all of the answers in the crowd. Based on your information gathering, you answered your test. But they did not determine whether you passed or not."

He took off his bandanna, revealing a badly scarred head. "During your career as Shinobi, enemies may try to gain information out of you, but you cannot let them. Information is vital to winning a war or battles."

Suddenly, Ibiki cocked his head at the window, and a split second later, the window shattered. A huge banner flew out, latching onto the opposite wall immediately.

"The second proctor for the Chunin Exam, Mitarashi Anko, is here!" A tall, purple-haired woman wearing a trench coat grinned, but then suddenly frowned. "Ibiki, you let sixty people pass? Twenty teams?" she asked incredulously.

"We had an exceptional batch of Genin this year," he replied.

"Oh well, no matter." Anko shrugged. Then, a wicked smile played on her lips. "I'll decrease the amount by half."

And all of the Genin could swear that the room temperature dropped.

"Meet me at training ground 44 in ten minutes." Anko announced with a wide sadistic grin before disappearing.

As the genin left the room Ibiki walked over to the Uchiha brat's table and picked up the sheet. As he looked at it, he blinked in surprise. It was all gibberish.

No … wait … it wasn't. It was all written in code. This level of answering was something a chunin would be expected to do. Hang on, not only that, the answers were all switched around. Seven's answer was written next to three and five was next to nine and so on. Each question was answered so that if one did not see this connection they would simply assume the answers given were for the numbers they were placed next to and therefore incorrect. Meaning, the brat had even matched question types, grouping them in such a way that he could both code his information and hide it, making that a part of the code in itself.

That was jonin level answering.

Just who was Uchiha Sasuke?

* * *

"All right, kiddos, time for the second exam!" Anko announced as she stood on a platform in front of the crowd of Genin. Behind her was an ominous-looking, fenced forest area. A sign on the fence read, "Training Area 41, the Forest of Death. Enter at your own risk."

Anko cleared her throat. "Here are the rules. Every team will get a scroll – an Earth scroll," she held up a blue scroll which had the kanji for 'Earth,' "or a Heaven scroll." She held up a white scroll which had the kanji for 'Heaven.' "You will start at an assigned gate and will be in this ten kilometer diameter forest for five days, during which you will try to obtain the other scroll from another team. For example, if you have the Earth scroll, you will try to obtain the Heaven scroll, and vice-versa. Once you have both of them, reach the tower in the middle of this forest. Do _not_ open the scrolls until you reach the tower. If you do," her face adopted a cruel look, "you will get an unpleasant surprise."

The Genin shuffled nervously, but she continued, placing the scrolls on the table beside her and picking up a sheet. "But before you take this exam, you have to sign these consent forms. Exchange your three consent forms for a scroll." A Chuunin behind a table to the right of the platform held up a stack of papers and one of each type of the scrolls.

Sakura, almost afraid to ask, raised her hands timidly. Already, this woman was scaring her. "Mitarashi-san, what are the consent forms for?"

Anko smirked. "Glad you asked. The consent forms say that we are not responsible for any injuries or death." She grinned at the gasping Genin. "Because yes, people _will_ die."

Sasuke leaned back casually. He had already been through this before, and he motioned to his teammates. "Come on, let's just get the stupid consent forms and get to our gate."

He walked past his teammates, determined to be the first to get a consent form, when a kunai suddenly flew out of the air, grazing his cheek. He turned towards Anko, who was licking her lips in a predatory manner.

"Oh, you aren't afraid?" She asked, appearing behind him.

Sasuke stared hard at her. "Should I be?" he asked.

Anko frowned. Prey that weren't scared were no fun. "Hmph, well, I'll see you at the end of the exam… That is, if you aren't dead." She smirked.

Sasuke turned away and continued towards the booth, which already had a long line. Annoyed, he said sarcastically, "Whatever. Thanks for _delaying_ me." And with that, he left her staring after him.

A smile crept up her face. What interesting prey. She had a feeling that this Chunin Exam would be different from any other one before. Uchiha Sasuke at the very least, would provide some much needed entertainment.

* * *

Cold, moist air greeted Sasuke's nose as the wire gate swung open. Small bushes dotted the rough ground, marking no straight path into the dark forest. Three bird calls sounded in succession, causing shivers to run up and down his spine. He could see that Sakura felt the same, although Naruto was his calm self. The girl was shaken visibly, and most likely held regrets about entering the Exam. The first part, the written test, had been easy for the brainy Sakura, but the second part was survival - no amount of brains alone could keep her safe from enemy Shinobi.

Needless to say, the forest had seemed _so_ much friendlier from the outside.

"Shall we... go in?" Sakura asked weakly, ignoring the fact that they were, technically, already _in_ the forest. Sasuke was deciding whether or not it would just be simpler to get a scroll and get to the Tower, having to sit with the questions this would raise or if they should take their time and barely make it like last time.

Naruto brushed past her with a determined expression on his face. He tossed the Earth scroll up once, and then tucked it in his bag. There was a barely noticeable trace of nervousness in his eyes, but his jaw was set and his forehead was creased; it was obvious that he had full intentions to pass this test. "Let's move already. We only have five days."

Sakura paled, as if remembering something. "Five days..." she echoed in a daze. Sasuke mentally scoffed. That was too much time in his opinion.

"Don't worry," Sasuke grinned at her. "We probably won't take that long. And besides, what builds your immunity more than sleeping in the forest with dirty bugs?" He smirked at Sakura's petrified face, and then added as an afterthought, "But I supposed killer Shinobi aren't very good for your health... especially while sleeping..." he trailed off, enjoying the pink-haired girl's expression.

"Shut up and let's go," Naruto muttered, taking the leader's position. He motioned the other two to follow him and began walking.

Sasuke started to follow, but then noticed Sakura, who was still shaking from terror. He rolled his eyes, exasperated. "I was joking about the bugs, Sakura," he told her. However, she seemed to take no notice of him. Frowning, Sasuke flicked her forehead, much like what Itachi had done to him when he was little. That snapped her out of her daze.

"Sasuke!"

"I was just joking about the bugs, Sakura," Sasuke repeated and crossed his arms. "Unless we run into Shino."

Her lower lip trembled. "But not about the killer Shinobi?" Sakura whimpered in a very small voice.

There was silence. Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who had stopped and, even though his back was turned, was obviously listening. The Uchiha turned back to his female teammate and said emotionlessly, "There will be 'killer Shinobi' wherever you go. That's the risk we Shinobi have to take. This is only a preview of what you'll see out in the field; it can get a lot worse than this." His eyes darkened with the tint only first-hand experiences could give. "People die. Teammates die. Friends die. The best we can do is move forward and prepare so that we won't." He gaze softened. "Besides, that's what teammates are for, to protect each other and to help each other grow."

For a few moments, it seemed as if it had not done anything to comfort Sakura, but then her eyes fell and she said softly, "I guess you're right. Let's go."

There was no conversation for the next few hours, and even bird calls were absent, filling the time with seemingly even more silence.

* * *

"I bet we can pass this test easily, just like the last one!" Kiba exclaimed confidently. "Let's go!" He pumped his fist into the air.

Hinata twiddled her thumbs together nervously. "A-Ano, Kiba-kun..." she said softly. The dog user, used to her quiet comments, stopped and looked at her. "W-We should be c-careful, j-just in case, ne?" She lowered her eyes. "A-After all, the f-first test was individually t-tested... Here, w-we're tested against o-other teams."

Shino nodded. "She is right. We cannot be too careful. Why you ask? Because–"

Sighing, Kiba turned back to the forest. "Whatever, sure. Let's just go, 'kay?" he stated and interrupted Shino at the same time.

"No." Shino held up and hand, and Kiba stared back at him questioningly. He had gotten used to listening - albeit sometimes grudgingly - to his teammate's wisdom. "We should have Hinata use her Byakugan first to scout the area. Then, we move. So that we know what's coming." Both of them turned to Hinata.

She let out a small sigh, but proceeded to whisper, "Byakugan!" the oh-so-familiar thin veins pulsed around her eyes, and not for the first time Kiba was glad he was with her, not against her. Hyuuga are pretty scary, Kiba thought.

After what seemed like eternity, the veins around Hinata's eyes disappeared. Breathing softly in relief, Hinata turned to the others. "T-There is no one w-within attack range. W-We should be f-fine."

Shino nodded, and then asked, "How long can you keep the Byakugan on?"

Hinata's lips pursed in thought. She didn't want to let her teammates down, but in reality she could not keep it on for long. _Otou-san - and Hanabi-chan - would say I'm a disgrace to the clan, _Hinata thought, her heart sinking. But she tried not to show it and said, "I-I can keep it on for a couple of hours."

Kiba and Shino glanced at each other, exchanging knowing glances - or in at least Kiba's case. It was hard to tell what Shino was thinking behind those dark glasses of him. However, Kiba could tell that Shino knew that Hinata was lying. Her limit was probably only an hour or two without a break.

"You should check every half hour." Kiba decided, and for once, Shino nodded in agreement with the dog-user's decision.

Mentally, Hinata sighed in relief. She could do that much without tiring. Maybe her fears were wrong; maybe, they would survive and even pass this horrible exam. After all, the competitors were only Genin, right?

* * *

"Let's go! I want to catch up with Naruto-kun!" Ino's eyes sparkled with the possibilities this test could give. Her ideal plan was this: first, Naruto and his team would get in danger with a Chunin-level Genin team. Second, she and her team would enter and engage in battle (which involved many dramatic scenes and her risking her life for Naruto). Third, Naruto would thank her profusely with a love struck gaze in his eyes while all of the others would stand around them, clapping with admiration in their eyes. Finally, Naruto would fall in love with her, and the rest would be history.

Of course, it was a foolish and imaginative plan, but it couldn't hurt to dream, could it? After all, sometimes dreams did come true.

Shikamaru watched the glint in Ino's eyes warily. _Troublesome_, he sighed mentally.

Munching alerted him to his other teammate, who was standing a few steps behind them, crunching on a bag of chips. _Even more troublesome,_ he thought. _Chouji, you shouldn't really be eating our food supply on the first day..._

"Chouji!" Ino screeched. "Hurry up! And save those chips! We'll need fuel later!" Shikamaru loved the fact that Ino was related to Inoichi who often worked with his own father, and that as a consequence she sometimes, on the rarest of occasions, managed to be on the same wavelength that Shikamaru himself was on. Her outburst had saved Shikamaru the trouble of stating it himself and disappointing Chouji.

The "big-boned" Akimichi grumbled but consented to her order, after seeing the use of it. He would have loved to munch on his chips the whole five days, but he had a limited supply, and the team was better off saving them. Ino stomped on, clearly annoyed at being interrupted during her daydreaming.

Shikamaru and Chouji glanced at each other warily before following her from a distance; a mad kunoichi was a dangerous hazard indeed.

* * *

The Forest of Death was quite disturbing, to say in the least. The towering trees' trunks reached at least forty feet or so before evolving into thick, murky green leaves and brown branches. Unnaturally large animals slithered and crawled all along the trunks and on the ground, leaving gooey, slimy trails wherever they went. Little sunlight reached the ground, and even that sunlight shone only in small patches often not large enough to hold one standing person.

Sasuke watched his teammate's expressions. Naruto's was slightly wary, but clearly determined while Sakura's was obviously nervous. The pink-haired girl kept blinking her eyes, then shutting them, and then opening and blinking them again. She was not used to the darkness. However, Sasuke had little trouble seeing, as Orochimaru's lair had been this dark or even darker. And if push really came to shove, his Sharingan would definitely come in handy.

Sakura gave a small shudder, and then breathed out in an effort to calm herself, though it only worked a little. Her nerves were dancing, jumping, and scurrying about and her bravery was gone. But she wouldn't submit to her fears, not now, in front of her teammates. And not in front of Naruto-kun! She thought determinedly. "So," she started, "What's the plan?"

Both Naruto and Sasuke stared back at her, almost incredulously, and she blushed. "What?" she stammered, startled at the attention.

Naruto's eyebrow remained raised as he turned his back to her. Obviously he did not want to deal with scared girls right now, regardless of the fact that she was his teammate. Sasuke, however, disagreed with this line of thought, cocking his head at her not in an entirely unfriendly manner and replied succinctly, "We keep moving. Find a team. Get their scroll. If it's the right one, we move to the tower."

Sakura pursed her lips at his words. Clearly, they had no wish to share their _oh-so-special_ plans with her. "Well, excuse me for asking!" she huffed, crossing her arms. She walked over to Sasuke with intentions to smack him on the head for his stupid (at least she thought so) reply, but he grasped her hand before she could raise it.

"Not right now," Sasuke whispered seriously.

There were only a few times Sakura listened to Sasuke. They were teammates, and friendly ones at that, but she knew she was the smartest of the Academy bunch and Sasuke... Well, he had been the dropout, so often there was little reason to listen to him. However, those few times she did listen to him had often made all the difference. Back at the mission to the Wave country, if she hadn't listened - well, the thought of what might've happened sent chills up her back. Most likely one of them would've died, maybe more. Now, she could tell that he was completely serious, just like back in the Wave country. There was no mistake; this was his deathly - and in some cases it could be - voice. Commenting sharply back at him was not an option right now.

Her mind raced through the possible reasons that Sasuke and Naruto-kun could be so tense and come to the conclusion that they were being caution for enemies hiding in the surrounding forest. It wouldn't help to give away their entire plan for the hidden enemy and then to fail because of it.

So Sakura listened to his unspoken command of "Don't talk of that right now" and fell silent. The trek continued tensely, and all were on their guard - perhaps too much so. Even a small bird's chip or leaves rustling jarred their nerves, but, as they had often been taught in the Academy, _"It is better to be too guarded rather than too lax."_

Night fell quicker than any of them had expected, and although it was hard to tell the exact position of the sun, the sunlit patches that were rapidly fading gave the rough time. Naruto, self-appointing himself as leader, suddenly veered off their course. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in silent questioning, and the blonde replied in a low tone, "We can spend the night under the tall oak there." He pointed to a large, towering oak a few yards away. The tree's coarse, thick roots stuck up, out of the ground, forming a small shelter.

Sasuke figured it would have been better to sleep in the trees rather than under them since some animal might have had the same idea but he wasn't about to argue with the blond. Not when there was just as much chance of animals in the trees as well. And sometimes, not only animals.

Naruto ducked as he entered their temporary dwelling. Surprisingly enough, it was fairly large, and would hold the three of them comfortably. Although, they would only be staying the night; the next day they would get the scroll and reach the tower, he was sure of it. He would make sure of it.

Sakura entered after Naruto, feeling relieved at the sight of a roof over their heads that night. Although she was a Shinobi, the pink-haired girl mentally shuddered at the prospect of having to sleep on the ground. Apparently, this view had been shared by many of her female peers at the Academy, and one time a girl had actually asked Iruka-sensei about it. He had _not_ reprimanded her for thinking about such things, to their surprise, but instead laughed_. "I doubt you'd be thinking about hair by the time your mission gets that bad!"_ he'd replied. Only now did she grasp the message he was trying to send.

None of the girls had ever brought up that topic again, too afraid at what else Iruka-sensei would inform them of, blissfully ignoring the harsh reality that being a Shinobi was.

Sasuke followed Sakura under, but not before taking one quick glance at their surroundings once again. He'd been constantly searching the forest for any sign of Orochimaru since they had left the gate, but to his relief - and anxiety - he had seen nothing. Either Orochimaru was hidden or he was not following them at all. He fervently hoped for the latter; after all, he had no idea of how strong Orochimaru was at this moment. _But, I should be able to see him if he's there, right?_ He thought. _After all, my tracking skills aren't _that_ bad..._

_Well, no news is good news, in this case,_ Sasuke thought as he turned back to the shelter and ducked inside. There was nothing - or rather, no one - following them, and that was a good sign.

He never noticed the bush directly across the clearing rustling slightly.

* * *

The first thing Sasuke noticed was that there were birds.

It was the first thing he noticed when he awoke from his light sleep - he hadn't gotten much; it was a habit of his not to sleep to soundly. Although they were in a forest with as much wildlife as any other forest around, and it was definitely not uncommon for birds to be calling at any time of the day, but there was something that was significantly different than the previous day.

Sasuke frowned and rose onto his knees, whispering to the others, "There are birds calling to each other."

Sakura and Naruto stared at him. Then, Naruto widened his eyes in realization and his brow furrowed in thought. He rose quickly and glanced at the area around. Sakura, confused by his actions, crossed her arms. "So? We're in a forest."

"Right," Sasuke replied, "But think of yesterday. There were no birds calling yesterday, Sakura." His eyes narrowed. "Think. Why would one day have no birds calling but the next day have them? Did they suddenly decide our intrusion wasn't that big a deal?"

Sakura stopped to think about it. It didn't take her long to catch onto what he was getting at. Her eyes widened, and then darted around, as if expecting something to pop out of the bushes at any moment.

Sasuke nodded. "Exactly." So far she was doing well. No fangirlism and no freaking out.

Naruto turned towards them after his quick scan of the surrounding area. "Right. It's possible and most probable that someone was watching us yesterday. I didn't think much of it, because I thought the 'Forest of Death' wouldn't have much life in it."

"So, who was spying on us?" Sakura asked, glancing first at Naruto and then at Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged, but Naruto answered for him. "We don't know. It could have been anyone." Then he stopped. "Though, I doubt it would have been someone from Konoha."

Immediately, an image of Kabuto popped into Sasuke's mind. "But we can't rule out that possibility. Someone from Konoha could've been, such as... a spy? Or decided that since we're rookie genin we're easy pickings." he hinted as casually as possible, throwing in the other possibility because it was plausible and it made it look like he was speculating.

Sakura shot a look of disbelief at him. "A spy? Surely we don't have any spies. And besides, would they even be Genins?" She clutched her pack unconsciously.

Naruto stared contemplatively at Sasuke for a moment, and then looked directly at Sakura, though his thoughts were still on his Uchiha teammates. _He knows something. He's been showing signs of knowing something since we were saw those Suna genin. Not to mention that card Kabuto had on him. He didn't show much love for the Konoha genin. Is he trying to say something there? Does he already know if there's a spy in our ranks?_ _And is he in league with them? Come to think of it, that Kabuto guy had information he should not have been able to get and it was information that definitely could not be gained merely from being in the chunin exams before as he'd claimed. Sasuke, could he be working with Kabuto? No, he wouldn't be hinting there would be a spy if he were…_ "If they're a high-level Shinobi, it would be easy for them to infiltrate our ranks and pretend to be a Genin. Since they're pretending to be someone so low level in skill, they won't be under as much scrutiny." He returned to staring at Sasuke. Distrust flashed in his eyes, an action which the Uchiha did not miss. However, he ignored it for the time being.

"Then," Sakura lowered her eyes, "If it's possible there are spies, from whatever nation, shouldn't we have a password or something? Just in case?" She gripped her pack, in preparation for Naruto to shoot the idea down.

Naruto stared at her, blinking twice. "That's a good idea."

Sakura glanced up surprised, not daring to believe that she had caught his acknowledgement. "Uh... thanks." she managed to murmur.

Glad to see that Naruto had actually taken into account someone other than himself, Sasuke asked, "What should be our password?" He just might make a friend out of the dobe yet.

Naruto held up a hand for silence. Then, closing his eyes in concentration and quickly forming some seals, he performed a jutsu. A wave of energy passed over Sasuke, and he was surprised; he had not felt this jutsu before, and thought that Naruto would not know any that he would not know. But then again, Naruto was the Hokage's son, so he was bound to learn some high class jutsus that neither he nor the Naruto of his world had known.

After a few minutes, Naruto opened his eyes. "No one is within hearing range," he announced.

Sasuke blinked once, and then grinned. "That's a cool jutsu." _And very useful. If I could learn that... _"What's it called?"

The blonde shrugged and tapped his chin with his index finger. "I don't know, my dad taught it to me when I was young. But before he could tell me the name, my mom came in and beat him up for teaching me a high-level jutsu."

Both of his teammates stared at him, trying to figure out whether he was actually being serious or just joking. But then, Naruto did not _joke,_ at _all_, so they decided that he was actually being serious. Though, it was quite unlike their blond teammate to actually say _stuff_ like that. That sounded almost casual for the blond.

Sasuke felt a smirk creep up his face - he couldn't help it. Naruto had almost joked - joked, _really_! The Uchiha glanced at his other teammate, Sakura, who was also stifling a smile. A hand covered her mouth, blocking it from view, but the laughter showed clearly in her sea green eyes.

"Really?" Sakura choked out.

Naruto held his face as impassively as possible, but one of his eyebrows twitched. "Really..."

Sasuke breathed out, willing his smile to fall. Back to business - after all, it was the second day, and he didn't want to scare Naruto into broodiness once again. "So..." he started, catching the others' attention. "Password?"

All thought for a second. Then, Sakura smiled. "How about the name of the cat that we had to catch for so many D-ranked missions?"

"Nah." Sasuke frowned.

Naruto shrugged. "I think every Shinobi in Konoha would know of that cat."

Sasuke chuckled. Another joke. Really, Naruto was changing. "How about... the name of the subordinate of that person we fought back at the Wave Country?" _Haku_. Although Naruto had "scanned" the area for spies, Sasuke was still cautious. After all, the spy, if they were truly higher than Genin level, could break the jutsu, or fool the performer.

Sakura nodded in acceptance, but Naruto shook his head. "Say the spy is playing two people - one Genin and one Chunin or Jonin. If they act as our superiors, they could gather information about us and no doubt they would know that name."

"Oh, right," Sasuke agreed easily, although inside he was startled. _Why didn't I think of that? Are my senses being dulled? I should have known that... I'm not Orochimaru's student for nothing. _"Well, what else is there?"

Sakura thought for a moment, propping one elbow with her hand and placing the free palm under her chin. Suddenly, she motioned to the others to come closer excitedly. "How about if we don't actually have a verbal password, but instead a hand motion? Maybe a different one for each person? And we could always fool everyone into thinking that it's a verbal password by saying something along with our motion..."

Sasuke grinned, but again he was startled. _I could have thought of that. I _should_ have thought of that. But why didn't I? Am I becoming more like Naruto, the dobe one?_

Naruto nodded his head. "Agreed. Mine will be sticking my right hand into my pocket."

"And mine will be putting my arms behind my head," Sasuke added.

"And mine will be tucking a strand of hair behind my ear," Sakura finished.

And with that, Team 7 finished packing up and left the area. But again, it seemed as if they had forgotten to scan the area...

* * *

Shigou Kieko, a female Genin from Konoha, was extremely annoyed. How _dare_ her teammates avoid her! She was the leader, after all. Why did they split up like that? It would only do them harm... but if they were going to be careless and get themselves hurt, it would be their fault, not hers.

A rustle from the bushes on her left caught her attention, and she, knowing fully who they were, sighed exasperatedly. "Gao, I know you're there."

A smaller, dirtier boy emerged from the bush and groaned. "Awww, can't you _pretend_ not to know I'm there sometime? What's the point of sneaking up if you already _know_?"

"That's the point, Gao. Stop sneaking up on me." Kieko placed both of her hands on her hip to emphasize her seriousness.

Gao pouted childishly before nodding. "Yeah, okay, whatever." Then, he switched the topic. "Where's Yukoto?"

Kieko shrugged while examining her nails carefully. "I don't know, and I don't care." There was some dirt in her nails; she would have to clean it later. And what was that green..._stuff_... under her index finger? Surely she hadn't been digging or anything...

Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth. Instinctively, Kieko started to shriek, but because of her hand gag, there was only a muffled noise. "Be quiet!" hissed an all-too-familiar voice.

She quieted down and the hand came off. The kunoichi turned around and saw, to her relief, Yukoto, the third member of their team. He had an excited and slightly mischievous expression on his face. She cocked her head to silently inquire why he had gagged her with his hand.

"There's a team not far from here," he said in a quiet whisper.

Both Kieko and Gao widened their eyes, and both of expressions mirrored Yukoto's; they were all thinking of the same thing.

Stepping carefully so they wouldn't alert their prey, the three shinobi approached a clearing. They huddled together in a tall tree which would obscure their preys' views. "Surround, then attack?" Kieko asked quietly, and in response Yukoto nodded. Then, the three vanished, carrying out step one of their plan.

* * *

Naruto was positively sure someone was following him - _them_, that is. It was like a sixth sense - that prickling feeling on his neck alerted him, and it was rarely, rarely wrong. Was it the spy from the previous day? It would be risky for him to tell the others, so they would be on their own. Though, with what he'd seen from Sasuke, it was probable that he'd noticed already. Naruto didn't know whether he should be glad or jealous.

Sakura would not know; he wasn't being biased or anything - it was simply a fact. She was a typical Genin. An abnormally smart one, but a typical Genin in terms of strength and ability. She would no doubt be a liability in this upcoming battle, if their opponents were indeed a spy whose level was higher than Genin, she would have no chance. Sakura would most likely get killed one day, if not in this upcoming battle.

_Speaking of which_ _- !_ Naruto ducked to narrowly avoid a kunai, which flew past his ear and thunked into the ground. Dark purple poison oozed from the blade, and immediately the grass which it had landed on began to wither. _The battle is on._

Instantly, a small boy with a huge grin on his face leaped down and began to engage him in taijutsu. Naruto briefly heard a girl's exasperated sigh, and he had to agree with her; this boy was incredibly stupid, attacking him directly like this. It didn't take long for the blonde to trip the boy and pin him to the ground with a few kunai. He was the son of the Fourth Hokage. Did they really think they could beat him?

Before leaving to help his pink-haired teammate, though, he caught sight of the poisoned kunai that had almost hit him. Naruto frowned, and then picked the kunai up carefully and dug it into the ground before the now-trembling boy. "Just a warning," Naruto told him carelessly.

Turning to Sakura, he was surprised to see that Sasuke had already finished off his opponent (_quicker than me?_), a boy who was now unconscious on the ground. Shrugging, he glanced at Sakura's opponent, a tall kunoichi who was obviously more experienced than her. However, Sasuke was far above the kunoichi's level, and it seemed he did not need any help. Naruto walked over to Sasuke's first opponent and dug through his belongings.

He sifted through the knapsack. _A map, keep; some kunai, keep; a few keychains, throw away; an intricate-looking necklace? Huh, I'll keep that, I guess. But where's that scroll? Come on, heaven, heaven, heaven scroll! _Naruto felt his fingers grasp a scroll and he pulled it out quickly. However, his eyes fell as they noted its dark colour. Earth. _Darn._

"Which is it?" Sasuke asked from behind him. Naruto stood up, kicking the boy's bag away; there was nothing else interesting in his bag. Inwardly Sasuke was frowning. They'd been attacked by a team from Konoha. They hadn't last time.

The blonde held up the scroll, choosing actions over words, and his other two teammates deflated visibly. "And we fought them and everything!" Sakura exclaimed. Then, she glanced at their fallen opponents. "Do we really have to keep it? I mean, they put up a good fight..." Sasuke scoffed at that one.

Naruto snorted. Really, Sakura would have to harden her heart if she wanted to win fights in the future. "We'll keep it. Besides, they could use the lesson. They did attack Konoha Shinobi after all and we're all about comrades here. They should learn that."

Sasuke nodded and shrugged. "If we keep it, we'll have an extra Earth scroll. And besides, if we keep one, that means there will be less competition later on." Inwardly he was surprised by Naruto's reasoning. Did he truly feel that way, or was it just preaching for the sake of arrogance?

At least one of his teammates had some sense, Naruto thought. He motioned to the others. "Let's go."

Team 7 left the clearing and their first battle quickly. After all, they had less than four days to get the tower now and with every passing hour more and more teams lost their scrolls, so they would need all the speed they could muster.

* * *

**Nightly haunts Extra**

A certain silver haired jonin jerked awake, reaching under his pillow for the kunai he usually kept there. He'd heard a noise and being a Shinobi with a rather high bounty, the student of the Hokage, the teacher to the Jinchuriki and the Hokage's son, the jonin least liked in the jonin station and a variety of other things that made one generally unpopular, a noise could really be the prelude to a murder attempt.

It had happened before. Really, it had. He wasn't paranoid.

However, what Kakashi found under his pillow was definitely not a kunai.

That blasted day-glow orange Icha Icha book mocked him, glowing ever so faintly in the dark. He scowled at it before tossing it out the window and hopefully far, far away. It had been bad enough when he'd found it in his kunai pouch earlier and had to explain to his ANBU superiors why it was there in the first place as it was rather inappropriate, and stuttering out 'I have no idea' didn't seem to be adequate for them. He definitely wasn't going to say that he may have obtained the book while in Obito's company and passed out from drinking too much sake. He may not be an active ANBU at that moment but he still went in every now and then to help Tenzou out.

But before he could close the window again the book, as though possessed or perhaps a boomerang in its pre-paper days, came right back and smartly smacked him on the forehead.

Kakashi felt sure that someone, somewhere out there was mocking the crap out of him and wondered just what he'd done this time to deserve it.

Outside on the opposite rooftop, Obito snickered gleefully. He would have to thank Sasuke the next time he saw the boy because really, this was the best idea _ever_!


	8. Chapter 8

**Beta-ed by Jenny-Cat-Mioaw. **

**Sorry for the delay. Lost track of time. **

**Things as they are**

**Chapter 8**

"So," Obito drawled, "Who's betting on their team?"

Asuma shrugged and raised his hand. "I'm pretty sure Shikamaru's tactics will get Team 10 through," he told the other Jonins. "After all, he is a Nara." Some of the listening Jonins nodded and raised their hands with Asuma's. Obito grinned and wrote all of their bets down on a small, worn notepad filled with random clippings.

The ruby-eyed Jonin, Kurenai, smiled and raised her hand as well. She did not usually bet, for gambling was pocket-emptying, but this time she had no qualms about the confidence in her team. "I'm sure my team will pass. They've been training very hard and their teamwork has been coming along well. They're smart and resourceful; I am glad to be their teacher. Besides, Hinata's Byakugan will ensure they pass by enemies instead of running into them, with Shino's cool logic keeping Kiba out of trouble." she concluded. Reassured by her confidence, a few more Jonins raised their hands, and Obito quickly scrawled the bets down.

Then, the Uchiha cocked his head at his old rival, Kakashi, who had been listening carefully while leaning against the side wall. The Hatake gave no impression of betting, and Obito did not expect him to bet - Kakashi was annoyingly stiff at times and betting was one of those "no-nos" for him. But still, it would be more interesting if he did. "Come on, Kakashi," he called suddenly, causing his rival to blink. "You need to have more faith in your team! Aren't you going to bet?"

Kakashi paused momentarily, and then shrugged. "I have faith in my team. If nothing else, Sasuke will get annoyed enough and catapult them all to the tower, with a pissed off Naruto and a flustered Sakura in tow." He paused, thinking about something. "So yeah, I guess I'll bet on them."

Obito blinked, as did most of the Jonins familiar with the famous Second White Fang and the stick up his butt. "Really?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Do you need to make me repeat myself?" Kakashi asked, slightly irritated. This is what he got for deciding to play along with Obito's games for once.

His teammate shook his head vigorously. Apparently Kakashi was in a rather... tense mood. Inwardly, though, he laughed. He knew all along that getting a team would be good for that bastard! "Aa... well, anyone with Kakashi?" he asked casually.

The Jonins glanced around at each other, as if daring anyone to raise their hand. As a result of this, no one actually did. Obito glanced at his teammate, but Kakashi seemed unaware that no one was willing to support his decision. A brief few seconds elapsed before Obito suddenly burst out. "Well, if Kakashi's actually betting on his team this time - not that he's ever had a team before - then I'm in! Besides, I've seen Sasuke in action and just know this, you're all going to be sorry~." He scribbled away in his worn notebook with over-enthusiasm.

"But," a Jonin stuttered, "Doesn't Team 7 have _that_ boy on it?"

"So?" Obito responded succinctly, continuing his scribbling. "Haven't you been listening to recent events?"

The same Jonin turned to Kakashi. "Surely you aren't entering him? He could hurt the Genin!"

"So?" Kakashi asked, mimicking Obito's careless look perfectly.

Obito snickered as the Jonin's expression turned horrified at Kakashi's indifference. He himself had never thought of the Kyuubi kid as _dangerous_ - Sasuke had certainly never acted suspicious... until lately, when he had begun to know and be able to do things he shouldn't. But until that point, he had been a happy kid. Or he had _acted_ happy. But it didn't matter that much to Obito - it wasn't his team, after all.

Besides, _Kyuubi_ had killed all of those people, not _Sasuke_. Sasuke was just a boy, trying to get people to notice him. For all they knew this could have been his great plan to get people to do just that and if it had been, then it sure as hell was working, just not in a positive way.

* * *

"Anko-san!"

Anko turned around sharply and showed a toothy grin to the Chunin, who gulped. He now realized why Anko was feared even among her own peers due to her insanity. Her grin widened as she saw his fright. "That's Anko-_sama_ to you, squirt."

The Chunin started sweating but nodded quickly. "Anko..._sama_, we found something interesting in the Forest of Death!" he rushed out.

"Oh? And what is that?" Anko released the poor Chunin of her grin and turned back to her magazine. _Interesting_ could mean many different things, not all of them actually _interesting_, at least not by her standards.

"It was the strangest thing! There were these Genin who were dead, and they didn't have any facial features!"

Anko stopped flipping through her magazine abruptly, freezing. Only one person could do that, and that was exactly the last person they needed at the Chunin Exams, especially when one of their own genin, their jinchuriki at that, was acting so weirdly. "Like, their faces were wiped clean? As in still skin but no features what so ever?"

"Uh-huh!"

"_Completely_ clean?"

"Uh-huh!"

Anko dropped her magazine. "Lead me," she ordered. If that was who she thought it was, this Chunin Exam could turn into something a lot more complicated and ugly, _fast_.

* * *

Sasuke was nervous, to say the least.

Orochimaru should have shown up by now, but he hadn't. He had no intention of biting any of them, he was hiding, or he was waiting for an opportunity or trying to decide who was the better victim; and Sasuke fervently hoped it was the first choice. He was sometimes cocky and arrogant, but he was not rash (at least, not most of the time). He very much doubted he could fight Orochimaru while trying to prevent him from biting his friends or himself. Not as he currently was. Perhaps not even as he had been. Orochimaru always had been able to strike quickly.

Deviating from that topic - he never liked that topic anyway - his progress in merging with the other Sasuke was amazing, and that was not necessarily a good thing. Sasuke found himself - well, not quite louder, but definitely more outspoken and inviting to people. (He had never before really enjoyed talking to others and now he was frequently talking at team meetings.) Instead of viewing friends as needless, Sasuke was now open to them, craving them, needing them.

Naruto's now dark and cold nature, however, irked him to no end - _surely I hadn't been that bad when I was a Genin! Surely Naruto had never had to suffer through this?_ - and Sasuke could now find no way to befriend him. Naruto had acted bright, cheery, and idiotic, but he wasn't going to do that. And besides, it hadn't done much; Sasuke had still left Konoha, albeit with nightmares about that battle and with secret regrets for doing so, but regrets that were never thought upon so they didn't really count.

Thankfully, he had not lost his skill or much of his strategy. What would happen if he did... well, it would be a repeat of the other universe, only from the other end. And he did not want that. It would only increase his guilt about leaving Konoha in the first place–

_Sakki - concealed but intense sakki! _

Sasuke's mind snapped back to reality and his head jerked to the trees, his fingertips dancing on the handle of his kunai. A dark, foreboding feeling came over him, and he realized that Orochimaru was certainly not gone.

_No, in fact, he is right here - !_

* * *

The cup slipped from his hand just as he was about to sip from it. It slid off his lap, leaving a dark, burning tea stain from its trail, and clattered onto the floor.

Minato frowned. Surely he wasn't that clumsy. Except for that time with the crystal ball, he thought as his eyebrow twitched. _It was all Akito-san's fault_, he thought sourly. _I'm more careful than that... aren't I?_

Other past accidents disagreed with this, but he decided that he could get off that subject. Anyway, there was this _burning_ tea stain on his Hokage robes, so he should probably give them to Akito-san to wash.

As revenge for the crystal ball of course, seeing as he hadn't had the heart to demote her.

Minato promptly yanked off the robes, which were becoming incredibly hot, being over his Jonin outfit. He wore the outfit under his robes in case he needed to make a sort of undercover leave of absence from the Hokage's office. Most looked for the robes and not the jonin vest.

"Akito-san..." he grinned as he waved his robes.

Never did the thought of the cracked cup being an omen cross his mind once, far too concerned over his own lack of grace.

* * *

"Hello," the tall, Ame lady greeted in a silky voice, that wasn't quite as smooth as it should be should it aim to garner comfort and trust.

Sasuke clenched his fists. _What do I do when he releases that sakki of his? Should I fake it? Yes, I'll fake my fear. I am no threat in Orochimaru's mind right now, so if I can keep it that way and then surprise him, I may have a chance of defeating him._ He adopted a frightened look, something he found strangely difficult. _How did I look when Itachi massacred the clan? I can't remember! Fear is a weakness and it's not me!_

The lady held up a Heaven scroll with three long, slender, pointed fingers. "You want this, don't you?" she – _he?_ – asked as if _he_ already knew. So how long had he been watching?

The grin spread and his eyes flashed with amusement at their faces. Naruto was unperturbed, determined to defeat anyone in his way; of course, he had no idea this "Genin" opponent was actually _the_ S-classed missing-nin, Orochimaru, one of the three legendary sannin. Sakura was scared, and she had every right to be; even though she had been training lately (There really hadn't been much more time than for some pointers from Sasuke), she was still only average in her skills, besides intelligence, which was little use if one could not execute the plans thought out. She also looked as though she was about to drop to the ground in utter defeat.

"You aren't going to just give it over, are you? What do you want?" Straight and to the point as always, Naruto readied himself into a fighting stance, completely ignorant of the fate that awaited him.

_Idiot,_ Sasuke thought. _Don't provoke him anymore than necessary. Play at the lowest, and maybe he'll leave us alone, thinking we're unworthy of his ranks or attention. But WHO is he after?_

Orochimaru's appearance had not changed. A large, purple bow was tied at the back of his pale kimono, matched with the false, strangely intimidating feminine mask. No ounce of emotion showed on Orochimaru's face, except for amusement. _Amusement at our foolish bravado, our false assumptions, and our poor, pitiful techniques,_ Sasuke thought disgustedly. If only he knew that Sasuke was one step ahead of him, technically. Was it enough?

He watched in silent revulsion as Orochimaru's long, pink tongue gripped the scroll and carried it back inside his mouth. He'd seen it many times before, but that made it no less disgusting in his eyes. Orochimaru certainly hadn't grown any less disgusting than the Orochimaru back in that other world. They weren't getting that scroll that was for sure and he wasn't even entirely sure he wanted it after _that_.

"Seems that you want my Heaven Scroll," Orochimaru smiled creepily. "Well, let's play, Naruto-kun… and let's see if you can get it from me," a slithery voice called.

And how the hell was he supposed to do that? Slit your stomach open?

Nonetheless, a breath hitched in Sasuke's throat. _Naruto-kun_? That confirmed the target, maybe. It made it more in favour of it being Naruto. The bastard was after Naruto!_ But why? _Asked a voice in his head, yet he ignored it. _You won't bite him – not over my dead body!_

A part of him actually hoped he was wrong, that Orochimaru was after him instead.

He hadn't realized that he'd spoken out loud until Orochimaru actually answered his thoughts. "As you wish, Sasuke-kun," that slithery voice responded amusedly, "Though it is to your advantage if you and your pink-haired friend leave." _AS IF!_

Another wave of sakki flooded through the trees, causing Sakura and Naruto to immediately collapse and vomit. Sasuke, however, remained standing – frozen not because of the massive killer intent, but instead of shock. The killing intent was nothing to him, only a mild annoyance. At least that had not changed.

_This isn't right! _Sasuke thought desperately._ He was supposed to go after me! Not Naruto! What did I do wrong? Is it because of the Kyuubi? This isn't fair! Naruto doesn't deserve this! I do, for all the things I did in that other world. Naruto, despite his broody attitude is really still just an innocent. _

Again, he did not realize that he had spoken out loud, words coming out like he had no control, like Naruto used to do; however, this time Orochimaru remained silent. _"This isn't right, he was supposed to go after me"? That's not usually the thoughts people think. Does he know something?_ Orochimaru's lips curled venomously. _I may have to kill him after all, despite the somewhat promise he displayed earlier. What a shame, such a waste. _

Sasuke took out a kunai and gripped it in his left hand, forcing himself not to act like Naruto again. Acting like the dobe right now wasn't going to help them at all. He wasn't left-handed, but it would be better if his right hand were free. He could form seals with just his right hand – although, he very much doubted kawarimi no jutsu, henge no jutsu, and bunshin no jutsu – the only jutsus he knew how to do with one-handed seals – would do much against an S-classed missing-nin. Surprise was always an asset on his side, but even that did little more in getting his friends to safety than if he had none at all.

But he had to have faith in what he was able to do. After all, Kakashi-sensei always used the kawarimi.

He couldn't defeat Orochimaru even with help from his teammates, so that was off the list. He couldn't run away from an intent S-classed missing-nin, so that, too, was off the list. He could just fight, faint, and let Orochimaru bite Naruto, but he wouldn't let that happen, so that was off the list, too.

That didn't really leave him any options. Would the Kyuubi make a difference in this fight?

A voice suddenly called out, and Sasuke snapped his head towards it; his mind immediately identified it as Sakura's.

"Please let us go!" Sakura begged. Naruto shot an annoyed glare at her; he was not one to run away from a challenge yet he still did not understand this situation, but Sakura ignored him and continued. "Please! We'll give you our Earth scroll if you do!"

Before he could stop himself, Sasuke burst out in a voice he barely recognized as his own, high … desperate "Idiot! He doesn't want our scroll, he wants to bite -" Immediately he stopped. The factor of surprise was a small but definite help in combat, and he could not have Orochimaru realizing the extent of his intelligence.

The edges of Orochimaru's lips turned downwards slightly. So the brat did know something, after all. Very few knew of the technique he used to mark his victims, even in his own domain. Was it possible that Minato – that insolent yellow-haired brat – had somehow learned of it and leaked it out as common knowledge? His eyes narrowed. Yes, that must have been it. There were only two people who could've found out about it, Minato and that dropout Jiraiya.

Or perhaps little Anko-chan had managed to remember something after all. But that was for another time. He was close to achieving his objective after all.

They, no matter who it was that informed this little brat, were going to pay, _dearly_, but first, this insolent Uchiha brat.

Swiftly bringing his two hands together into a seal, Orochimaru disappeared into the scenery using _henge no jutsu_. It was a pitiful technique, although with his level these Genin should have much difficulty in following him. And really, it was only the calm before the storm. He would defeat them – and as punishment, kill the Uchiha brat and the whiny pink-haired girl, first. Yes, and he would bite the blond kid, and that brat Minato would regret that he'd ever taken the seat of _Hokage_ - !

Scanning his opponents (although they could _hardly_ be called that), he watched amusedly as they visibly tensed. He'd always enjoyed watching the fearful expressions of his opponents, whether they were high-levelled or not. Most would call him sadistic… and he agreed with them wholeheartedly. Now, he no longer cared how inhuman he was; immortality and power was everything to him and the cost to gain those two things was of little consequence in his eyes. Mercy, generosity, kindness, remorse – those fickle emotions could easily be cast off in exchange for the _true_ prizes.

These brats, this "Team 7" was so naïve. And to think Hatake Kakashi had seen something in them, enough even to train them. As if they could bargain their way out of this mess. Nothing they could give would be useful to Orochimaru, except perhaps their servitude, well only the Uchiha brat's but he didn't appear to be going down that path any time soon. Reports stated that he hadn't activated his Sharingan yet and that was a disappointment. Reports also stated that he was hiding something which was intriguing but after today, no one would know what it was because he'd be dead.

He shunshin-ed across the tree branches, covering the distance to the blond gaki in a split second. He dropped the henge – it was no use now. Naruto-kun's teammates could do nothing even if they wanted to, and he wanted to see them suffer. Yes, suffer! Suffer seeing their teammate writhe in agony as the cursed seal worked its way through his body.

But no – Orochimaru snapped his head towards Sasuke – or rather, where Sasuke had been. Cautious, he glanced around quickly, and was startled – no, beyond startled – to see the Uchiha brat right next to him. _How did he catch my shunshin – and how did he react so quickly?!_ ran through his mind as Orochimaru brought a hand up to block a roundhouse kick.

Releasing his hold of the shocked Naruto's shoulder to dodge another kick, Orochimaru twisted his face in anger. That Uchiha had just completely ruined his plan! But wait! He could still salvage this. It wasn't over yet!

He thrust his hand out, and large, venomous snakes slithered out of his sleeves, threatening to bite the boy. With reflexes as fast as they _shouldn't _be, the boy jumped two feet to the left and launched another kick. Orochimaru could not but help noticing how well thought-out the boy was. Obviously, Sasuke was using taijutsu because hand seals would give Orochimaru the time to move closer to Naruto-kun. With his speed, Sasuke was fast enough to keep him away from Naruto-kun, but also slow enough to avoid using hand seals. And even if he did, the most he could do with the limited time would be pitiful jutsus. Yes, this boy was intriguing, but actually more of a pain in the neck rather than intriguing at this very moment.

As taijutsu was not his forte, Orochimaru swiftly formed a few seals and deftly switched himself out with a kage bunshin. By the time Sasuke realized it was a clone, he would have bitten Naruto.

But the fight was far from over, for the Genin. As a price, both the Uchiha and the girl were going to die.

* * *

Sasuke breathed heavily as he dodged a _katon _jutsu. It wasn't that he was _tired_ exactly, but that the terrified beating in his heart would not stop. What exactly was he afraid of? It wasn't Orochimaru that was for sure. If Naruto was going to get bitten, if Sasuke failed to stop this, he would leave Konoha. And if he left Konoha, Sasuke would try to go after him. And Naruto would kill Sasuke because this time, that bond was only just beginning to form, it hadn't managed to solidify into something unimaginable to break. Everything was going to happen all over again.

It was like a nightmare come true.

Only, this time there would be no waking up.

Sasuke flipped backwards as he dodged another jutsu. The tree branch which he was standing on erupted and a huge hand made out of the wood emerged from the surface and grasped at him. He was barely surprised at this, having seen this particular jutsu before in Orochimaru's domain, but what he did not know was that this jutsu was not intended to hurt him – only distract, which it accomplished successfully. The tree branch which he landed on erupted just like the last one – only, instead of a hand coming out, it shattered into sharp, threatening shards which flew at him.

He, startled, quickly jumped off and landed on another tree. However, before that tree could do something, he jumped to another tree, and another tree, and another tree. It gave Orochimaru no time to launch that jutsu again. His path was unpredictable and random; Orochimaru would have a hard time predicting his next jump. But that was not Orochimaru's purpose.

However, Sasuke frowned mentally as he jumped again and again. The sounds of the jutsu's effects were fading away… What was happening? He turned his head back, and his eyes widened. Orochimaru – that bastard – had suddenly switched tactics and attacked Sakura with kunai instead!

Sakura, who was frozen by the sakki and mesmerized by the sharp knives, stared at the oncoming danger. If she didn't move, she was going to get hit. And if she got hit, she would die, or at least be severely wounded.

This was one of those split second decisions. Abandon Naruto and protect Sakura, or abandon Sakura and protect Naruto.

Sasuke abruptly changed his direction and launched himself at his pink-haired teammate as fast as he could go. He had to get there before the kunai reached Sakura!

Landing directly in front of Sakura, Sasuke snatched one of his own kunai out of his pouch and deflected all five of them. He was adequate at weapons, though he wasn't cocky enough to say that he'd _mastered _them. He'd have to say that that girl on the Hyuuga's team – Tenten, the girl they'd met in the hall of the room 207 – was truly the weapons master. Or, more accurately, mistress. Sasuke had gotten some training from some Sound nin, but since Orochimaru himself was not that fond of using weapons, Sasuke learned only the basics.

Wait. _Orochimaru himself was not fond of using weapons._ So why had he launched kunai at Sakura, instead of using a technique?

Sasuke swore. Loudly. Sakura stared at him, not used to the idea of him using those types of words, but he ignored her. _It was all just a distraction, and I fell head over heels for it._

That was _not_ good. Not good at all.

Naruto. Where was Naruto? He wasn't doing a very good job of this at all.

Immediately his gaze shot up to the higher tree branch Naruto was supposed to be standing on, but the blonde wasn't there. He was… he was… Sasuke's gaze travelled quickly, glancing over the many tree branches, tempted to activate his Sharingan but not daring to for fear of being bitten himself.

His pulse quickened as he caught sight of two figures: Naruto and Orochimaru, the latter holding onto Naruto's neck.

With his _teeth_. The cursed seal.

He'd failed. He'd failed, he'd _failed_. He promised himself that he would protect Naruto, and he hadn't.

He'd _failed._

Sasuke's breathing became quicker, and his gaze turned red, but it wasn't the Sharingan kind of red. Naruto had the cursed seal now, but if there was no one to _control_ the cursed seal…

He would kill Orochimaru once and for all. Then, all of this would be over and done with. He could still keep his promise, to protect.

All he had to do was **KILL**!

Absent-mindedly, he wondered when his motto had become 'to protect' instead of 'to avenge.' But that thought was all swept aside by the more pressing and urgent thought of Orochimaru must **die**.

Giving a roar of anger, Sasuke leapt off of the branch with speed he didn't even know he possessed. Orochimaru was going to pay. That was the only thing running through his mind at the time. Orochimaru was going to pay. Dearly. With his life.

It was a promise.

* * *

Orochimaru unclenched his jaw from the bite on Naruto's neck, ignoring the boy's feverish whimpers. He dropped his hold as well; Naruto would come to him, in due time. There was no need to capture him now.

Ah, Sasuke was approaching. How inconvenient. He really did not have time to play with the intriguing genin, who by the looks of things, lost his interesting traits while under the influence of the Kyuubi's power. How disappointing.

He brought both of his hands together. "Gogyo Fuuin!" he muttered as his hand connected with the Uchiha's stomach, rendering whatever attack Sasuke had planned useless.

* * *

Sasuke felt a sharp pang in his stomach as soon as Orochimaru's hand had made contact. It sickened him immensely, and he resisted the urge to vomit. He could feel himself falling, falling, and falling down into the deep, endless darkness below. Sakura's voice cried out to him – _she cried out, didn't she? Or was that simply my imagination? _– and his mind shouted at him to respond, but his mouth would not move and he could utter nothing.

He'd failed as a friend.

Again.

And it hurt more than watching Itachi kill his family over and over again. In fact it made his brain hurt a lot. But he was so very tired ….

* * *

Anko fingered the broken branch thoughtfully. It was her old sensei, all right. Felt like him. There was no doubt. It even _looked_ like him! Some of the tree branches had seemed like they were burst from the inside, but that was only one of the jutsus Orochimaru knew.

If any of the three Genin survived, she thought, it would be a miracle. Orochimaru never spared anyone who got in his way. She was the exception, out of her teammates; she had survived, and that was enough to make him spare her. But that was all she had been to him: an experiment.

It hurt to think that she had once trusted and believed in him whole-heartedly, worshiped his every deed, _aspired to be just like him_. To be so gullible!

The purple-haired Tokubetsu Jounin shook her head. The past could not be changed; only the future could be shaped. She would defeat and kill that man in the future, and looking back would only hinder her progress.

Back to the fight. Obviously the team her sensei had targeted was Team 7, Kakashi's team. There were no other teams he _could _have been interested in, after all. They had the son of the Hokage, the Kyuubi kid, and a girl who wasn't important enough to mention. But the first two were definitely extraordinary, especially the Kyuubi kid if the rumours floating around had been anything to go on and from what she herself had witnessed.

The were no bodies, so death could not be confirmed, but Orochimaru was obviously capable of erasing their corpses, so life wasn't confirmed, either. But… if they could track Team 7 down, then…well, they would know that something extraordinary had passed. Orochimaru could kill them without a sweat, but if they were alive, then they were alive because he _wanted_ them to be alive. And that… would probably ensure the very thing she'd been dreading: he had marked one of them with the cursed seal, possibly two of them.

But who? She thought. Haruno was out of the question. That girl was silly and fangirlish. Sasuke… he was the Kyuubi kid. And Naruto, he was the Hokage's son. The man that had cost Orochimaru everything he'd ever pretty much been guaranteed since his genin days. Of course, Anko hadn't forgotten that Orochimaru held resentment against Namikaze Minato, because he'd been chosen when her sensei hadn't been. It could be either Sasuke or Naruto; she wasn't sure which one, though. It would be best to alert Kakashi – if the Hokage hadn't already – and send an ANBU to look for Team 7.

Anko motioned to the ANBU at her side. "Rabbit."

"Hai, Anko-san?" the black-clad ANBU answered.

"Check the forest for Team 7, 'kay? It consists of a blond brat, an Uchiha brat, and a pink-haired brat. Can't miss them."

The ANBU bowed. "Excuse me, Anko-san. I do not believe you are in the position to order ANBU around."

Anko turned around, her mouth curved into an almost bloodthirsty smile. A wicked gleam twinkled in her eye. "Yes… but since I was the old man's student, I believe _I _have the right for the leadership of this mission. And since you are _part_ of this mission, I believe _you _are under _my _command."

Behind the white mask, the ANBU gulped. Not many things scared her, but Anko was sure one of them. There was just something about the kunoichi … "Hai, Anko-san." Honestly, she was surprised that she could say that without stuttering.

Anko turned back to the scene of the fight. Just even _thinking_ about her old sensei made her blood boil. Oh, how she _wished _she could _destroy_ that bastard once and for all! … But she would have to wait. Getting all hyped up about it now would do nothing later, when she finally faced Orochimaru. She would have to wait in the shadows for now.

* * *

Sakura shivered as she stole another glance at her two teammates. They hadn't stirred at all for the last ten hours, except for their tormented expressions and feverish whispers, and it was frightening her. What if her teammates died? What would she do then? She had joined the Academy with the intention of following Ino, but that soon changed into the intention of gaining Naruto's approval. If Naruto died, would she have the strength to continue on? Would she be able to stay as a shinobi? Or would she succumb to being "ordinary?" Would she even want to be any different?

They were so strong, Sakura thought sadly. And she was nothing. They fought that strange Grass-nin without fear, even Sasuke – but she had done nothing. Absolutely nothing but get in the way. She hated feeling useless, but she was. She had cut her hair for the reminder that she would strive to become powerful… but that sacrifice hadn't shown at all in that last fight, had it? And really, what had she expected cutting her hair to do other than gain Naruto's attention?

It was time to face the truth. She was nothing to the team. A burden.

And she very much doubted in her ability to become anything more.

Why did Sasuke seem to think she could be anything more than deadweight? And she couldn't deny that he did, because he wasted his own time to train her. At least he had tried to.

She swallowed, trying to keep the tears from falling out, but it was hard. One tear dropped, and another, and another. They wouldn't stop. Soon, she sniffed, again and again. How utterly _useless_ she was!

And Sasuke… her green eyes turned to stare at his feverish face. He had completely turned her expectations. Completely. Before, she had thought that he was a useless, good-for-nothing person, and that he hadn't been even worthy enough to pass the Academy Exam! But he had, and from what she'd learned later, he had surpassed Iruka-sensei's expectations as well. From then on, he surprised everyone – not just his teammates – with strange jutsus and more advanced knowledge than anyone had suspected! He had even managed to surprise the Hokage, if that bitter look she'd seen on his face when Kabuto had told them about him being a suspected spy was anything to go on. Had he really been hiding all of that during the days in the Academy? It didn't make any sense, if he had. Why would he actually _try_ to be a dead last?

The other possibility was that he was… well, a fake. She could think of nothing else, and understood why the Hokage had labelled the genin that was rumoured to be his favourite as a spy. But who would want to impersonate a dead last, instead of someone who blended into the crowd? And if he was, why? If he was actually an enemy Shinobi who wanted to destroy Konoha from the inside, wouldn't he have acted before now? Sasuke had done nothing hurtful to Naruto-kun, herself, or Kakashi-sensei. It couldn't be possible… that he was actually conspiring with that Grass lady?

No… but that wouldn't make any sense. The Grass lady had hurt him, after all. She had done something along the lines of 'Gogyo Fuuin'. Gogyo Fuuin? Five-pointed seal? What did that mean? And… what had the Grass lady meant to seal? Sasuke's chakra? No, during the last ten hours, his chakra had been leaking out in irregular spurts, so it couldn't have been that. Something else, then?

Maybe Sasuke had a secret nobody except perhaps the Hokage and Kakashi-sensei knew. Like that S-classed one that involved him.

Maybe that was why all of the adults sent glares at him and told their children not to associate themselves with him. Sakura wasn't blind, after all. She could see that they clearly disliked – or even stronger than that; hated, perhaps? – Sasuke, and she couldn't imagine why. She had once asked her mother why she wasn't allowed to play with him, while she was very young.

"_Okaa-san, why can't I play with Sasuke?"_

"_Sweetie, I just don't want you to get hurt."_

"_That's not an answer! Why, okaa-san?"_

"_Listen, Sakura. I'm tired of you asking me this! Now, I'll say this once again: do _not _even go _near_ that boy! Do you hear, Sakura? Do not!"_

"…_Hai, okaa-san."_

She had pointedly ignored him for the rest of their Academy years. Now, though, she regretted it; he had saved her life. Because of her, he had been forced to choose between protecting Naruto-kun and protecting her. He had jumped in front of her, and because of that, Naruto-kun had gotten hurt, and he had as well. Why would a person like that be hated? What was there in Sasuke to hate? Sure, he had been annoying – especially to her – in the Academy, but now he was different. And yet, her parents kept telling her to change teams. Didn't they understand that he was a fine Shinobi? (Though Sakura would never tell him herself.) And didn't they understand that she couldn't just… change teams on a whim? It probably took appealing to the Hokage. And that, she _knew_ she couldn't do. After all, people just didn't go to the Hokage and ask for a switch in teams.

Then she frowned. Hadn't… Sasuke said he'd asked the Hokage for a switch? No, surely he hadn't. It was impossible. People just didn't… they just… they didn't…

She jerked up as a groan came from the object of her thoughts. It wasn't one of those moaning, painful groans; it was one of those groans people made when they were waking up.

Waking up. Sasuke wasn't going to die? He was okay?

Hope budded in her chest, daring to rise. He was alive! _Alive_! After that… 'Gogyo Fuuin' the Grass lady did. He survived.

His dark lashes fluttered, and his bleary, dull coal eyes blinked open. Sasuke groaned again. "Too… bright…" he whispered, closing his eyes again and turning over.

"Hang on, Sasuke-kun! I'll get you another wet towel for your forehead." Sakura grabbed another white towel, folded it, and placed it on his forehead carefully. After that, she froze. "I… just called… you… 'Sasuke-kun'…" she murmured mostly to herself in shock.

A raspy, broken laugh came from the boy. "Yeah… 'bout time you started doing that… After a while… I kinda started missing it… Can… can you believe it, Sakura…?"

Sakura leaned back, shocked and well, a bit disappointed with what she was hearing. He was still clearly dazed. She had never called him 'Sasuke-kun' before, to her knowledge. Perhaps, it had been in one of his dreams about her? "I…" Her lips closed. _I don't remember calling you 'Sasuke-kun' before, but I won't say anything, because what's important is for you to recover, and I won't weigh your recovering down by denying it._

Her lips thinned into a long line. Sasuke was not normal, and she didn't know _how_ she hadn't noticed it before. Was it necessarily a bad sort of different? The villagers seemed to think so. But he'd saved her life so no, it wasn't. He was just … different.

But first, he had to recover. _Then_ she'd bombard him with question.

Inner Sakura cackled evilly.

* * *

Sasuke had also quieted after he had said those words. It was his plain thoughts, and when he was so tired like this, it was easy for him to lower his guard. Sometimes words would slip out; in the future, he would be more careful of what he said. He had to. He didn't want people asking questions he didn't have the answers to.

He fervently hoped that Sakura wouldn't notice the inconsistencies between his words and reality. She was smart enough, but _maybe _she was tired enough not to notice. Or, better yet – not to care. If she did notice, and did care, it would lead to a lot of questions he couldn't answer, or perhaps didn't want to answer seeing as the thought of telling _anyone_ in this world what he'd done in his own world made him cringe. And when he wouldn't answer, she'd get Naruto or Kakashi-sensei. And they would get the Hokage, the man Sasuke felt a strange compulsion to be truthful towards.

He wasn't comfortable yet with sharing his past and he didn't think he ever would be.

And besides, they wouldn't believe him anyway. After all, who would believe a 12 year old boy that they were actually 16 and they had been sent to another universe by his psycho teacher? Or so he assumed.

Geez, even _he_ wouldn't believe himself. They might accept it if he could phrase it in a way that was acceptable – but he had never been the most eloquent of people. Anyone could tell that.

But, if Sakura did notice, what would he do? He couldn't bribe her. He had nothing she wanted. The only thing she'd care about was Naruto's love, but he couldn't get that for her. Naruto was even less cooperative with him than – than – than… Man, he couldn't think of anything.

A throbbing headache rose in his head, and he sighed.

And _this _was why doctors told patients not to think too much while recovering.

_Figures_ the dobe would be the centre of it.

Well, he could just cross that bridge when he came to it. Sakura would – hopefully – not notice. If she did, he'd figure something out. He always did.

… Man, this headache was so _annoying_.

* * *

Fire and ice, there was fire and ice in his veins. Flowing through them, coursing to his heart, and that place on his neck where the Grass Shinobi had bitten him. It burned horribly, as if a searing iron had torn through his neck. He couldn't speak, he couldn't open his eyes, he couldn't wake from this horrible dream which called itself the Chunin Exam. He couldn't signal - not even a small twitch - to his teammates that he was still alive. _He couldn't move at all._

Pain - such pain - he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, it was so numbing -

There was this buzzing in his ears - loud and continuous, irritating to no end driving him mad with its unrelenting-

How long? How long had he been in this raging inferno? In this manmade hell? No, not manmade. This pain, this torture, it was inhuman. Only an inhuman creature would take such delight in torture. His skin was hot and sweaty, throbbed in perpetual agony. Thousands of sharpened needles dug into his skin, slowly tearing away at his insides. This was worse than that time those enemy nin had invaded, had left him for dead.

"_Naruto-kun?"_ A ghostly voice from a distant past. A small content laugh. "_Where are you?_"

A childlike giggle, echoing in the darkness that surrounded his world of perdition.

"_I can't see you anywhere Naruto-kun._" That female's soft voice, so alien to him, yet so familiar, wrapping around him and protecting him.

No! He didn't want_ this_ –whatever it was– to go any further! He didn't want to see. Not again.

A flash of red, a deep crimson red. A colour that invaded his earliest memories of childhood.

"_Got you Naruto-kun!_" Deep blue, a blue like the endless sky and a loud squeal of happiness.

"_I love you . . ."_

He groaned.

Or did he? He couldn't tell. So far the line between nightmares and reality had shifted, slowly fading into the oppressive darkness that held only flashes of colours he did not want to see.

A new image swirled over the odd flashes of the other one. This one more images than sounds.

He could imagine - no, see - himself dying, himself slowly being overcome and succumbing to whatever this was, himself and that man and their bodies – _they died, they died, my teammates died and I wasn't strong enough _- No, no, take it away! I don't want to see–

They were lying there, on the ground, unmoving. Sasuke's body was facedown, something which he was thankful for. There was so much blood coating his back, a deep crimson just like from his earliest childhood – _he didn't want to see, take it away, take it away! –_ Sakura was on her side, and he desperately tried to not think of her, those newly trimmed pink. This was his mind, and he could not shut his eyes even if he wanted to. Her glassy eyes haunted him, strangely still pleading with him to do something, anything... but it was already too late.

A kunai protruded from the ground in front of both of them, mocking him as if this were the only grave heading they were going to get.

He tried to scream, but he couldn't. His throat lodged, and he could only gasp in rough, uneven breaths. Tears dripped from his eyes – _since when had he been crying? Since when did he _cry_?_

Since when did he care about them?

They were gone.

And _he_ had _failed_ to protect them. Just like that one time, so many years before.

* * *

He awoke under a tree. Surprisingly slowly, considering how far away he wanted to run from those dreams. He immediately shoved them to the back of his mind, deeming them nothing but a distraction.

For a moment, he just lay there, trying to take in enough air through his mouth but failing because his lips were so dry and cracked. The air was hot, dry, and it parched his mouth, but he didn't care. He was alive. Alive. He hadn't died. Were his teammates alive? _Were they alive?_

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura's voice rang out, clear and happy.

They were alive. That was a relief. Such… such a relief. They hadn't died, after all. They were safe… His eyes started to close.

"Don't close your eyes now, teme," Sasuke ordered. "We have to get that other scroll and get to the tower as soon as possible."

Sakura reprimanded him. "But he's injured! You don't _move _injured people!"

Naruto could almost see Sasuke's shrug. "As far as I can see, he's just broken out of a crazy fever. Nothing that bad." But there was something in his tone, suggesting that he _knew_ what Naruto had gone through.

"You baka!" He heard Sakura's fist connect firmly to the back of Sasuke's head, but to his surprise, the Uchiha didn't shout back. He wanted to know what expression was on Sasuke's face in that moment but he couldn't see much more than a few blurry images. He blinked a few times to try and clear his vision.

"You should be more careful, Sakura." He replied instead in a flat tone. "I'm your teammate, after all, and these are fighting grounds."

Naruto supposed that he meant, "_If we ever run into any enemies, you'll regret you injured me because I won't be able to protect you",_ but much to his amusement Sakura took it as, "_These are fighting grounds, and if you injure me again, I'll hurt you."_

She scooted back a foot unconsciously, an indignant expression on her face. Though, both she and Naruto knew that Sasuke was not an opponent to be taken lightly, especially after that battle. Sasuke had almost single-handedly managed to protect both of them but had been overwhelmed by two things, when the grass-nin had played dirty and the lack of co-operation from his teammates.

Naruto knew Sasuke was hiding something; now the question, what? He had been surprisingly capable of matching the Grass-nin's speed. Was Sasuke more than what he'd previously let on? It was a scary thought, that the dobe was a powerful person. It just didn't match the loud, idiotic face back at the Academy; however, it did eerily match the profile he had after the class had been sorted into teams. Not to mention, he was suspected of being a spy. Not that he actually acted like one. Then there was that bitter grumbled remark about having skills being a problem.

He knew there was something strange going on with Sasuke. His otou-san knew it; Kakashi knew it; and probably some prominent council members as well. But, how about the rest of Konohagakure? Were the rest of the adults truly in the dark? It didn't seem something like his otou-san would do. He'd want everyone to be on the lookout for a potential threat from the Uchiha genin.

Maybe Sakura had heard something about the strange matter. She was smart, after all, and he grudgingly admitted that she was better than him in the 'knowledge' part. Maybe she would be able to put together the clues.

On the other hand, she was a fangirl. She'd gotten better after Team 7 formed – was that another one of Sasuke's tricks? Somehow he felt it was – but how would she respond if he asked her what she thought of their mysterious teammate?

But, he really wanted to know what she thought… It was a risk he'd just have to take.

He really, _really_ hated fangirls.

* * *

Sasuke didn't say much after that. First, he knew for certain that Sakura was suspecting something of him, because she'd been giving him odd looks whenever she thought he couldn't see her. Second, Naruto had no reaction to the cursed seal after he'd woken up. The cursed seal hadn't been timed – he had studied with Orochimaru long enough to know that – so, maybe it reacted when one of the snake's cronies came? No, Sasuke himself had been around them for _two and a half_ years – and he'd never had any adverse reaction. Then… this cursed seal was different? He couldn't see how it could be different, but otherwise it made no sense. Maybe the Hokage had done something. He knew Orochimaru and Namikaze Minato had some sort of a rivalry – though a bit one-sided rivalry – and maybe the Hokage had messed up Orochimaru's experiments.

Something like that. He couldn't think of anything else plausible.

Well, okay. _Half -_plausible_._

It was like his mind was stuck behind a barrier. Was this a symptom of his turning more into his other self? Would his skills really be affected? He had to find a way to stop that, to write it all down, everything he knew. Write it down and practise it over and over till it become a conduit of this reality and not his previous one.

Getting back to his previous musings …

Thirdly, weren't those three Sound nin supposed to come and fight anytime soon? He hadn't woken up until about halfway through the battle, but they would've come by now, right? Unless Orochimaru had told them to stay away due to Sasuke's earlier display. He knew that he had been trying to do the impossible but it still didn't distract him from the fact that he'd failed.

Failed to protect his teammates, failed to even make a dent on the sannin. Failed. _Failed. Failed!_ _**Failed!**_

Again there was that odd throb in his head from just before he had passed out.

He forced his thoughts back into order, trying not to dwell in things he had no control over anymore.

He focused, trying to hear anything suspicious, but was unsuccessful. He hoped fervently that the Sound team was not there, because they were hardly in the shape to fight. Naruto couldn't even lift his head, Sakura had stayed up for ten-plus hours nonstop, and he himself was still taxed from the 'Gogyo Fuuin', whatever that was. But whatever it was, it was working – he had barely enough chakra to sustain himself. It was as if someone had put a constriction on his chest and his chakra and he found it hard to breathe. Had Naruto been hit with this the first time around?

He'd hardly been in the shape to notice nor care.

Sasuke could almost feel his teammate's stares. He had screwed up badly – very badly – perhaps even past the point of fixing. If that was the case, he'd just have to tell them, as harmful to his plans it might be. _What plans?_ A tiny voice asked him.

Suddenly, the air around him changed_. What? What did I miss?_

"Did you hear that?" Sakura jerked her head towards the noise, coming from the bushes. It was soft, as if someone were trying to hide themselves, but not soft enough to sneak under Team 7's notice, injured as they were.

The Sound trio? This time Sakura wasn't facing them alone.

Was the curse mark perhaps set off due to a sense of danger? Naruto was going to be falling into that very soon.

With a groan, Sasuke pushed himself up into a sitting position. This had to be the worst time to have an attack. Couldn't they wait even one day?!

Naruto tried to rise as well but failed. Apparently the cursed seal had done its toll on Naruto's strength, and he fell back, succumbing to the cries of his aching body. Sasuke gave him a concerned glance; he would have to fight, there was no doubt about it. Sakura could do little against three Sound nin. Sasuke had a problem with his chakra so even if he wanted to, he couldn't fight very well.

He tried to remember what it had been like for him, so he understood what Naruto was going through.

What had happened last time? He racked his brain for answers, but there were none to answer his summons. He didn't remember anything, because the first memory after waking up was staring down at his blood-stained hands. And that was a bit _after _he had woken up – that is, 'gone mad' as Sakura called it. He would just have to hope for the best.

Gritting his teeth and ignoring the shooting pain throughout his chest, the black-haired boy rose to his feet, swaying. Steadying himself on a nearby branch, he experimentally walked a few feet and crouched down – or rather, collapsed – next to Sakura, who was sitting at the small entrance to their temporary domain. "What do you think it is?" Sasuke asked her. He already knew what it was, but it didn't hurt to get her opinion.

"I don't know," Sakura answered worriedly, but he knew better. She feared they were other Shinobi.

"Probably Genin," Sasuke muttered, confirming her fears. She glanced at him, terrified of the prospect, but he didn't look at her. It would be of no use to 'butter it up;' he spoke what he thought.

"Let me –" Naruto's voice came from behind them, and Sakura opened her mouth to rebuke him, but Sasuke interrupted instead.

"Be quiet. You're in no position to fight, teme, and you know it." Sasuke's tone came out much harsher than he'd intended, and he could almost _see _Naruto biting his lip, trying not to contradict the statement. Trying to be the hero now could end up costing then their lives.

Another rustle came from the bush, and Sasuke tensed. He would have to fight his hardest here, or they would never make it to the tower.

As expected, for Sasuke anyway, three figures emerged from the bushes. One – _What was his name again? D-something – _had many off-white, dirtied bandages wrapped around his head and limbs. Another – _Ah, Zaku, I remember. Was he the one I fought while the cursed seal had control of my mind? –_ had an ordinary brown coat with the kanji for 'death' on it. His expression was curled up in an arrogant smirk. The last – _the girl who I don't quite remember the name of –_ had a sleeveless green vest on with the camouflage grey shirt and pants underneath.

"What do we have here?" A raspy, deep voice asked rhetorically from the bandaged face. These three were more than mere genin, placed in this exam to test Naruto specifically.

The girl smirked. "A bunch of Genin, eh? They look pretty weak to me."

Zaku chuckled, but then frowned. "Where is the blond brat?" he asked.

The bandage-face Sound nin seemed annoyed at Zaku's ignorance. "Look where they're guarding. He must be inside of the tree trunk."

The girl stepped forward, twirling a senbon that hadn't been in her hands before. "They're guarding him? Oh, too bad. I guess we'll have to just take care of these two brats first." She didn't seem at all worried.

"We should hurry," the bandaged Sound nin urged. Sasuke noticed that his eyes darted around, looking for something. He looked around, too, but nothing was there. _Is he scared of Orochimaru? _He wondered silently. _Is Orochimaru here?_

But as soon as he thought this, another thought came to mind, dismissing the notion. _Orochimaru would've had plenty of time to take Naruto, if that were the case._

"Oy," Sasuke's voice carried over the clearing easily. "How do you know that Naruto is here?" he asked contemptuously. "How do you know that whoever you're working for hasn't already taken him?"

The Sound three paused a moment, as if contemplating the thought, but at an almost uncanny time all three smiled again, simultaneously. "He hasn't. We would know if he had," Zaku replied with a grin on his face. Sasuke knew that Orochimaru's thugs liked to bluff just as much as the next ninja, that most of them thrived on it.

"Is that so?" Sasuke cocked his head. It was more of a statement than a question. "Then," he stood up, "I guess we have no choice. Ready, Sakura?" he glanced down at his teammate and gave her a confident grin, knowing that she would be near useless in this fight anyways and that he'd end up protecting all of them once again. Could he do it?

He'd have to use _that_ taijutsu. To hell with the consequences. Rather them, than death.

She nodded all the same, probably thinking the same thoughts as he was. "Right." She stood up as well.

"Now, make sure that they don't get near the tree," Sasuke told her, not bothering to conceal his voice.

"Hah!" Zaku crowed. "So he is in the tree trunk!" That statement had proved that hadn't really be sure after Sasuke's little announcement and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Sasuke shrugged. "What was the point of lying if you already know?" he asked sarcastically. He settled into a familiar stance, one which the Sound nin gasped at. _It's safe. I can use this without worrying about questions later, except from Sakura or Naruto. But that shouldn't give me away any more than those other hints I'd accidentally given earlier. Besides, it's not like they would know what this is anyway. _

Taking a deep, calming breath he moved into the stance that he'd been using the last two and a half years in the other world: Orochimaru's personal stance, the Dance of the Snake.

* * *

**Chunin exam nominations Extra**

Kakashi held up a hand. While his posture and his expression remained the same, he merely raised a hand.

Minato's voice trailed off as he stared at the silver haired jonin, wondering what he was doing now. Even Obito had cocked his head slightly.

A loud crash and shriek from just outside the door alerted the jonin in the room that something was happening, perhaps something unpleasant.

BANG!

Slowly, almost as one, every person in the room aside from Kakashi turned to face the door. Obito cheerfully walked towards it and yelled. "Who is it?"

When no answer was forth coming other than a slightly louder bang, Obito answered the door, imagining a struggling chunin with too much paperwork. And being the helpful guy that he was, he was only all too happy to open the door.

What he didn't expect was a little orange object to whiz past his face and directly into Kakashi's raised hand.

"Uh, Kakashi-kun, what is that?" Minato asked in confusion.

"Don't know. Found it in my pouch. Tried tossing it but it has this rather interesting boomerang effect. It just keeps coming back. At the moment I'm trying out an experiment. I'm trying to see how long it takes to come back after I toss it away at different distances." Kakashi shrugged.

"It's an Icha Icha book, sensei. Someone seems to think Kakashi is actually going to read it." Obito supplied with a snicker. "Poor deluded soul. So how far have you thrown it so far?"

"Across the village." Kakashi replied blandly.

"Oooo, did you try seeing if tying a rock to it made a difference?" Obito asked, joining in on the experiment.

"More weight huh?" Kakashi mused. "Hold on, sensei would you mind jumping this thing a little further out than the village?" Kakashi asked the bewildered blond Hokage, holding out the book.

"No. I'm not a delivery boy." Minato growled back.

"So you're not even slightly curious?" Obito challenged.

"Aren't you even slightly worried as to why there is an Icha Icha book following you around?" Asuma asked with a raised brow.

Obito and Kakashi looked at each other blankly before shrugging and replying at the same time "Nah."

Watching them from the shadows was a certain scowling genin. When the hell was Kakashi just going to start reading the thing? It was time to up the stakes because apparently, simply attaching it to the jonin wasn't enough. He was having far too much fun with that.

It was time to attack Kakashi's personal library.


End file.
